Protector
by MoonlitxAngel
Summary: (AU. Pricefield. Dual Side) Max: It had been 5 years since she last stepped foot in Arcadia Bay. This time, though, she was there to get away from her home life. It had a strange way of following her wherever she went, though. Chloe: It had been her angel that had saved her, but also her angel who was going to destroy her. Grasping for something to hold onto so she wouldn't fall.
1. Doppelganger

_**Protector**_

 _ **A/N: So, it's been a really long time since I've actually written anything. Please bear with me while I get my bearing and make this into the amazing story I hope for it to be.**_

 _ **This is going to be an AU story. Max doesn't have time traveling powers, and Rachel Amber is still alive and well. Some characters may need to be a little OOC to fit into the story as I want it to be told so fair warning. Lastly, this story will contain sensitive subject matters (abuse, rape, drugs, etc) so be warned if you're easily triggered. I will do my best to keep it as light as possible for those who are triggered can enjoy as well. If you have gone through sexual abuse, PM me or review. I can send you an alternate chapter if needed.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of Life is Strange. Please excuse any spelling mistakes/errors. I try my best. I'm always open to ideas and comments, so if you have an idea of where you think the story should do shoot me a PM or write it in a review. It just might find its way into the story.**_

 _ **(Update) IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE: On chapter 6, I got a review from a user that brought up something that reminded me that I haven't mentioned this before. As this story covers heavier topics, and some that may be triggering to people, I want this story to be as accessible as possible to anyone who wishes to read it. As such, if there are any more times where I think that what Max is going through is going to be too much for some people, I will mark the area of the story to skip. I will also, if something plot related happens in that time, either write up an alternative part to replace that for those people to read or I will write up a summary of what happened, leaving out details.**_

 ** _I hope you enjoy the story!_**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Doppelganger**

She stared up at the photos splattered across her wall as she picked up clothes and packed them into a suitcase. It had been an amazing five years in Seattle where her art was concerned. She'd learned so much from the school that she went to, and it was really exciting that she was now able to go back to Arcadia Bay and study under Mark Jefferson. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and she wasn't going to pass it up.

Her parents wanted her to go as well. Sure they'd miss her and they'd all cried about it, but they all knew that it was for the best. And not just because of Max's art. There were two reasons that they moved to Seattle. One being her dad had an amazing job opportunity up here. One that he just couldn't pass up. The second was her mother's brother. He needed them. He'd been in and out of jail and said that he needed help getting his life back on track. _What a load of bull. Life back on track my ass._ Max thought to herself.

Up until they moved to Seattle, her life had been normal. Normal family. Normal friends. Normal house. But everything had changed for the worse when they moved. Everything had been normal for a time, until her uncle started getting confident. She didn't even know what he'd been in prison for, but she wouldn't be surprised if it had to do with some form or another of abuse. It started out small, sure. The depreciating joke here, the jab there. But it had gradually begun to build over the years to the point where she didn't feel safe being home alone or alone with him, so when her parents went out, so did she. Max thanked her luck when she got into Blackwell. She'd be free...

"Max! Supper's ready!" her dad called up the stairs, his voice echoing up the stairwell and to her open bedroom door.

"Coming!" she replied, closing and zipping her suitcase. This would be the last meal they all ate together, and it filled her with sadness and excitement at the same time. She picked up her phone and stared at her for a second. _Should I text Chloe...? It's been **years** since the last time we talked, but... _ She let the thought trail off and pocketed her phone. She'd text her that night before bed if she could gather up the nerve to do so.

Dinner was filled with idle chatter about how the day was and how excited everyone was for Max to be going to Blackwell. It actually felt normal for once, and Max was grateful for it. Maybe nothing bad would happen, and she'd get the strength to tell Chloe she was coming back to Arcadia and things would be okay. She'd been waiting all day for something to happen. For some explosion that she'd seen as inevitable, but so far so good. Usually at dinner time the air was tense with the long held secrets. Her mother and her would eye each other trying to make sure they were acting as normal as possible while Ryan was kept in the dark. But tonight... tonight things were filled with stories told and memories shared.

It was an hour later that Max finally trudged her way back up the stairs and into her room. Removing the suitcase from the bed, she laid down still fully clothed and looked at her phone. It was nerve wracking trying to decide whether to message her long lost best friend or not, because they'd not contacted each other in years. She didn't even know if her number was still the same one she had... Chloe had always begged her to keep in touch. Letters. Texts. Everything. Chloe hadn't wanted to hear all about her moving and what she was up to. In the beginning, it had been easy to keep in touch, but after awhile she just slowly stopped talking to Chloe. Sighing, she opened up a new message.

Someone knocked on her door and started to open it. Putting her phone down at her side, she saw it was her uncle. He was a tall guy standing at about 5'11" and had a rather round face. A black beard and mustache covered his lower face while a scar across his eyebrow was the only really noticeable, distinguishing feature otherwise. He wasn't overweight, but he still had a bit of a belly that you could see through his too tight shirts.

"Get out of my room." She knew that she needed to be forceful. Her dad was home, so it was really risky for him to even be in here, and they both knew it. One yell, and her dad would be up here in a hurry.

"I don't think so, Max. You know, I'd never seen you till you all moved up here. Not in a way that wasn't pictures," he said lowly, shutting the door and moving closer. "It wasn't too hard to get your parents to leave for the store. I'm sure your mother didn't think much of it since I pretended that I was beat and it was a suggestion of a surprise for you. So go ahead. Yell. Your daddy isn't here to protect you, Max."

 _ **(Slight trigger warning ahead!)**_

She shuddered at the thought of what he wanted to do to her. Grabbing her pillow, she threw it toward his face as hard as she could and tried to make a break for it around him and toward the door. He was took quick for her though and had a hold of her around the waist before she could even make it halfway. Being thrown onto the bed hurt, but it wasn't anything compared to what he did afterward. She tried to yell out, and it fell on deaf ears. He maneuvered his way around, keeping her pinned as he did it, to take off the clothes on her bottom half. After that, all there was was pain.

 _ **(End slight trigger warning)**_

He had his way with her then got up to leave the room. "Remember little Max. This is our secret. Or else much worse will come to others you care about. You don't want me to have to hurt your parents, do you?" Max curled into a ball as he left the room, silently sobbing to herself. She didn't feel comfortable or safe anymore, and she knew it would be a long time before she ever did again...

* * *

 _ **Monday October 14th, 2013**_

Months later, and Max had settled in well at Blackwell. She'd met three amazing people, and they had quickly become close friends. First, there was Warren Graham. A science nerd, but probably one of the sweetest guys that you'd ever meet. It hadn't been easy making friends with him after what had happened to her, but she managed along pretty well. He could tell that she wasn't all that comfortable around him, so when they talked for the second time he let her do most of the speaking. He sat and listened to everything that she'd had to say about her photography and multiple other subjects that she was interested in. After that, he slowly started opening up, and she let him in.

Second was Kate Marsh. She was really religious, but Kate was a sweet girl. It had been easy talking to Kate the first time. She'd actually come up to Max and introduced herself on the first day she was there at Blackwell. It wasn't long before the two had taken to exchanging books that they'd read and discussing them over tea or hot chocolate out in town.

Then lastly, there was Rachel Amber. Rachel was supermodel gorgeous, and she seemed to be friends with all the photography students. She was in Jefferson's class with her just like Kate was, but it took a little bit for them to become friends. The thing that had really kick started their friendship had been when Rachel had needed some photos taken. She'd seen Max's work and had liked her style, so she came up to her during a free period and asked for her to be her photographer. It had been a great experience, and the two had become quickly close.

It was a nippy day in October, but Max didn't really mind it. She'd just gotten out of Jefferson's class and was headed to meet Kate when Rachel stopped her.

"Max, hey, could I ask you a favor?" she asked, smiling brightly. Rachel had an amazing smile that really lit up a room. She'd been witness to it many a time. Rachel would enter a room and start smiling and talking and all of a sudden everyone else was smiling. She was bright. Brighter than Max could ever hope to be.

"It depends. I've actually got a lot of homework today, and I'm supposed to be meeting Kate out front so that we can get tea," she replied, looking around at the other students chatting away. She wondered if anyone else was as stressed as she was. Probably not.

"It's nothing _huge_ , Max. Just a teeny _tiny_ little favor. Okay? Please?" Rachel pouted her lip a little as she asked. Max always wondered if she realized that when she wanted something she did that. She'd pout her lip out just the tiniest little bit, only noticeable to a careful eye.

"What is it?" Max had noticed something recently. A lot of people, including her, tended to give in to Rachel. It wasn't because they didn't have the willpower to say no to her. It was because people trusted Rachel. People trusted that Rachel knew what she was doing.

"Thank you so much, Max!" she smiled brightly and gave her a quick hug. "Okay, so I'm going to be going to meet up with a couple friends from out of town tonight. I just... didn't mention it to Frank. So, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind covering for me? Tell him that we're doing a project for Jefferson's class with me. If he hears both of us talking, he'll be more inclined to believe it."

"Why are you trying to hide from him that you're seeing some friends from-"

"He doesn't tend to like me hanging out with a lot of other people, because even though he puts up that front of a tough guy he ends up getting insecure. Okay?" Rachel said, not waiting for a response before she pulled out her phone and dialed Frank.

"Hello?" Max didn't know how Rachel could handle Frank. Frank answered the phone the same to her as he seemed to for everyone. Which tended to be with this annoyed undertone. Like he didn't want to be bothered with talking to you. Rachel _swore_ it didn't sound that way to her though.

It was a simple phone call that didn't last all that long between the three of them before Rachel gave Max a thumbs up that she did a good job and could walk away now. So Max did just that. She checked her phone and saw there were a couple texts from Warren asking her to meet up with him sometime later that day, to which she replied that she would once she was back at school, and one from Kate telling her to meet her in her room as she had to finish something small before they left.

Sticking her earbuds in, she headed out of the school building and out onto the main campus. She loved being out here surrounded by all the art and nature. A bunch of kids felt the same and you could see the skateboarders doing their thing, kids drawing, kids talking. The Vortex Club all huddled together somewhere quietly laughing at whatever they'd done to some poor kid this time. David was nowhere in sight and the science teacher was standing nearby, watching the students to make sure that they weren't getting into any trouble.

Max took the left down the path toward the girls' dormitories and headed in, getting to Kate's and knocking before letting herself in. "Hey, Kate. What's up?"

Kate turned and smiled a little at her, gesturing to her bunny. "I'm sorry. I had to take care of him first. I couldn't remember if I'd put enough water in his cage this morning or not, so I wanted to be double sure that he had enough before we left."

"It's okay. Are you ready to go then?" Max asked, looking around Kate's room and seeing everything was a little disheveled from the last time she'd been in there.

"Actually... There's something that I wanted to talk about... And I don't want anyone else knowing, so I don't want to talk about it in public..." Kate murmured and then sat at her desk. "It isn't an easy thing for me to talk about, but Max, I know that you'll guard this secret with your life..."

Max sat on the bed and turned her phone to silent and turned off her music so that she could listen more intently to Kate. Kate was always tidy and neat. Something big must have happened for her to let her room even get a little disorderly.

"You know how I went to that Vortex Club party, right? I don't know... I don't know what happened... Things just got really weird... I think I was drugged... I started to feel funny and one of the guys offered to drive me back here... I don't remember much after getting in his car... And when I came to, I was here in my bed... But my shirt smelled like cologne when they hadn't before, and everything was completely rumpled... I hurt everywhere... Especially..." she paused and half whispered, "especially 'down there', Max... I don't know what to think or what to do..."

Images flashed of what had happened to her months ago, and it took everything she had in her to not start tearing up. Going over to Kate, she hugged her tightly and rested her head on the smaller girl's. She knew how difficult this was... She'd been there months ago. The only difference is that Max had known it was happening and Kate had no clue exactly what had happened to her... But she swore that she'd get Kate justice. She had to, because she wasn't yet able to help herself...

* * *

 _ **A/N: If anyone you know has ever been abused, please reach out for help. National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673. If you've ever been assaulted and (as I understand) want resources where you can get help or want someone to talk to about it, please call that number. They keep everything confidential and don't have your full phone number if you call. They're obliged by law to report sexual assault on minors but otherwise they must get your consent if law enforcement is to be involved.**_

 _ **Now this has been a pretty heavy chapter for a beginning, but I needed it this way. It'll get a bit lighter later on as we start getting into other topics. I apologize for any bad grammar/word choice/etc on my part. It's been a long time since I've been able to write due to various different circumstances, and I'm really trying to get back into it, so bare with me, please.**_

 _ **And please if you can take a moment of your time to leave me a review, I would really appreciate it.**_


	2. My Angel

_**Protector**_

 _ **A/N: I forgot to mention this in the last author note, I think, so I wanted to make sure it's clear that this story is told from two perspectives. Max's and Chloe's. For the most part, it'll stick to every odd numbered chapter being a "Max" chapter and every even numbered chapter being a "Chloe" chapter. If needed to add more depth to the story, there will be a couple other characters that will have a chapter to themselves, but I don't know if that's for sure yet. Enjoy!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of Life is Strange. Please excuse any spelling mistakes/errors. I try my best. I'm always open to ideas and comments, so if you have an idea of where you think the story should do shoot me a PM or write it in a review. It just might find its way into the story.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 2: My Angel**

 _ **Monday October 14th, 2013**_

Darkness. That's all there had been. That's all it seemed there ever would be now. If it hadn't been her dad dying, it was her best friend moving away. If it wasn't her best friend moving away, it was her mom dating again. If it wasn't that, it was the marriage. Things kept going in one constant downhill descent into darkness for Chloe Price. When she had needed someone the most, everyone left her. Then Rachel happened. Rachel had been like the answer to her prayers, and they became close friends fairly quickly. The darkness that lay waiting inside of Chloe started to dissipate and in its place was a light that Rachel left there that gave her the weapons and tools to fight. The brunette had brought light back into her world again, and she was able to smile and laugh like she hadn't in a long time.

Things were good between the two for a long time. They hung out all the time and there were smiles and laughs all around. But things had changed suddenly in the past few weeks, and it wasn't anything good that was coming out of it. They were bickering about small things that had never bothered either of them before as well as spending more and more time apart. It was driving Chloe mad. Staring into space, she took a drag of her joint and blew the smoke out in rings.

It was tough, because she honestly didn't know what she would do if she didn't have Rachel, and just that thought alone scared her a little. What if she did lose Rachel? What would happen? She needed Rachel more than the brunette bothered to realize anymore, and it was really taking its toll on the blue haired punk.

It was then that her phone vibrated to life, the screen lighting up with a message from Rachel. Sighing, Chloe picked up her phone and unlocked it to read the message.

 **Rachel:** Hey Chloe. Ik I've been neglecting you recently so I thought we could go do something tonight. Just us.

 **Chloe:** Ok but you're buying.

It didn't take long for Chloe to finish her joint and snuff it out then get ready to go. Stepdouche was downstairs in the living room, so she climbed out the window and to her truck like she had done a million times before. She quickly turned on her truck and pulled out of the driveway before anyone could come out and protest her leaving. She was an adult anyhow, so Joyce and the douche could shove it when it came to telling her what to do. She didn't care anymore anyway.

It wasn't too horribly long of a drive to get to where Rachel had specified in her text following Chloe agreeing to go out, and Surprisingly Rachel was already there waiting for her.

"Listen, I know that I've majorly screwed up recently, Chloe. I've been absolutely terrible to you, and I really have no good excuse for any of it. I'm sorry. Tonight, I plan to redeem myself." Rachel smiled and instantly Chloe's heart melted a little.

 _No. Stop that, Chloe._ She thought to herself. _Don't let her just sweet talk her way back to you._ She crossed her arms and gave a slight glare. "We'll see, Rachel." She knew that Rachel would break her down on this quickly, and she had done the same thing many times in the past. Their relationship was rocky at best, and Chloe was about ready to call it quits, but in a way, she needed Rachel. Rachel knew this and used it to her advantage.

"So," Rachel started as they stepped inside and were seated. "I brought us here for two good reasons. Firstly, is the buffet. All you can eat."

Quickly Chloe got up from the booth that they were seated at. She made her way to the buffet, filling as many plates as she could handle and bringing them back to the table.

Rachel sat back and watched her for a second before smiling as two drinks were brought over. "Second, I have a friend that works here that promised to get me alcohol. So you can have as many as you want. I'll drive you home if you need me to."

"Don't think this has you out of hot water yet, Rachel. I give you props for the buffet and drinks though." Chloe gave a quick smirk before digging into her food.

It was nice to have this time with Rachel again, Chloe had to admit. They didn't get to go out and just hang out and catch up anymore. It was hard for her to understand why, because it wasn't like Rachel's school load was all that horrible. She had people fawning over her all the time for her to _allow_ them to do her homework. Thinking harder on it was something that she always said that she would do, it's just that it was never gotten around to before Rachel had wormed her way back into her good graces again.

"The reason that I've been so busy lately and not around as much is because I'm working on a really big project for Mr. Jefferson's class. It's going to be huge, and I really want to get a good grade on it. So I've been working on it in all of my spare time and having my friends come in and help a little here and there. You're not really into the photography and modeling stuff, so I didn't think that you'd want to help all that much. Plus, you know how Principal Wells gets when you're on the grounds. He starts to get meaner, and I really didn't want to end up dealing with that as well as the stress from this project. I know that no school project is more important that you are, but I really want to do well. This could get me modeling jobs."

Something seemed off about Rachel's explanation, and the whole charade was getting really old to Chloe. This had become increasingly more and more of an issue where Rachel would suddenly drop off the face of the Earth. She was about to say something as Frank walked into the restaurant, spotting them. He looked pissed.

He walked over and glared at Rachel. "So this is what you call 'doing a school project', then? You had your little friend help you lie to me so you could hang out with this piece of trash?"

"Piece of trash?" Chloe asked, glaring and standing up. Frank pissed her off so much. Rachel had always been somewhat friendly with Frank, but it wasn't like it was anything passed that. Chloe, she couldn't stand him. The only reason they talked was because she needed somewhere to get her pot from. That was the extent of their relationship, and she'd always thought that Rachel had only really talked to him more than that for drugs so that she could get more lenient prices. Obviously, with the way Frank was holding himself and talking to her, that wasn't true.

"Yeah, piece of trash. You're just a little punk bitch who thinks she's all high and mighty and better than anyone else. Sit down and shut up, because this isn't even really about you," he said, turning his glare on Rachel.

By this point, Rachel had gathered up all of her stuff and stood up. "I'm not talking about this right now, Frank. Not in the middle of a restaurant. Come outside, and we'll talk."

Chloe rolled her eyes as the two left for the front, and curiosity got the better of her. She moved so that she could see them from the window. It was obvious that Rachel hadn't realized that this was going to be possible from where they were sitting, because two seconds into both of them talking to each other they kissed. All at the same time her blood started to boil and her stomach clenched like she was going to end up getting sick. Inside, her mind was running through everything at lightning fast speed, her heart feeling it had just been stabbed through with an incredibly sharp knife.

Before she could move away from the window to grab her stuff to take off, they pulled apart and Rachel and Chloe locked eyes for a split second and the small smile on Rachel's lips fell. _That's right, bitch. I saw that._ Chloe headed for the entrance only to be blocked by Rachel once she was outside.

"Chloe, can we talk about this?" she asked, keeping a distance but still standing firm where she was. Frank stood a farther distance away but still close enough that Chloe could have lunged at him if she had wanted.

"No, Rachel. And if it wasn't already obvious, we're through. You're a lying, cheating piece of shit who'd rather fuck a druggie older man than stay with someone who has been with her through **everything**. There is no talking about this. You _know_ how much I needed you and how much you meant to me, and you'd still do **this** to me?! Why stay when obviously you don't feel the same way about me as I do about you?" she glared, trying to get passed Rachel. There was still a part of her that yearned for Rachel to hold her tightly and tell her that everything was going to be okay, but that part was drowned out by the fire that was slowly overtaking her. She knew that if she stayed too much longer, she'd do something that she would surely regret.

"What's she talking about, Rachel?" Obviously he hadn't been in on everything that Rachel was doing, and he was just as confused as Chloe had been mere seconds ago.

"Let me fill in the blanks, Frank. She's been dating both of us. Up till now that is, because I'm so done with her games and bullshit." She quickly went around Rachel and to her truck. She got in and slammed her door shut, leaving Rachel in the parking lot of the restaurant with Frank who was getting heated as well. Chloe didn't have time for fake people like that, but she loved Rachel.

As she drove, her anger subsided into sadness. "Why would you do this to me, Rachel?! Why would you cheat on me and go behind my back to be with someone else?!" She slammed on the gas, speeding down the road and swerving when she came to turns. Dangerous, yes. But she didn't care, because all she wanted was for this dark cloud to leave her. Loneliness was all she felt, and it was starting to tear at her. Telling her that she would never be worthy of anyone. Everyone would always leave and she should just stop trying to have people in her life. Stop having friends. Stop everything.

She pulled in at the junkyard and got out of her truck, keeping the lights on as she did so. _Fuck you, Rachel. Fuck you for everything that you've done to me._ Chloe went over to one of the piles and found a baseball bat that was split a little but still was in decent condition. Spoiled people nowadays, throwing away anything that isn't perfect. Taking it, she started swinging and beating on a car that had been in the junkyard for a long time. Tonight, it was her release.

It didn't take her very long at all to smash all the visible parts of the car into something that she couldn't beat on anymore and the bat she was using had broken anyway. She slid down the side of the car, leaning against it for support as she looked up at the stars. What was she going to do now without Rachel? Her life belonged to Rachel, because without her she would have been dead a long time ago. It didn't feel right to be away from Rachel. Distance from her had always felt like a weight on her the farther she got. Tonight was no exception to that rule, but she knew that she would need to get over that. Rachel wasn't hers anymore, no matter how hard that truth had come to be grasped.

Her head spun with all the unanswered questions of what had happened. Why did Rachel cheat on her? Was it because of something she did? How long? Was it only just with Frank? "Why did you do this to me, Rachel...? You said you loved me..."

CRASH!

Chloe stood up and spun around, pulling a small pocket knife out of her pocket at the thunderous noise of one of the piles starting to tumble down. It wasn't too far from where she was standing so she carefully made her way over there to find two people, one buried underneath some of the rubble. One had their head down and short brown hair was all she could see. The other was the science geek from Blackwell. His name escaped her, but she knew it started with a W.

"You really shouldn't be hanging around here unless you know what you're doing. Stuff like this happens. You're hella lucky your friend is here to help you or you'd be shit outta luck." She put her knife back in her pocket and turned to walk away but then a voice she thought she'd never hear again said her name.

"Chloe?"

* * *

 ** _A/N: Thank you guys for all the reviews on the last chapter! I really appreciate it, and it's really helped me to get back into writing. Expect updates two times a week hopefully. I'm aiming for Tuesday and Friday right now. Also, I have the date up at the top (and I might add a time) so that it's easier to tell where in the story each chapter is taking place since we're switching between Chloe and Max. Max's chapter will take us back in time a little bit and then catch up to Chloe's present chapter._**

 ** _Hope you guys enjoyed!_**


	3. Rekindling

_**Protector**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of Life is Strange. Please excuse any spelling mistakes/errors. I try my best. I'm always open to ideas and comments, so if you have an idea of where you think the story should do shoot me a PM or write it in a review. It just might find its way into the story.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Rekindling**

 _ **Monday October 14th, 2013**_

Max sat near Warren in a small waiting area at the police precinct as they waited for Kate to get done talking to one of the officers. The few conversations that Warren tried to start quickly died off as Max was too anxious to really respond. All she wanted to do was run away from this place and hide. She didn't want to be here. To be reminded of what had happened to her. She knew, though, that Kate needed her support more than anything right now, so she was determined to sit through all of this.

"Max? Are you okay? You've been really out of it this whole time." Warren moved a seat closer, causing Max to tense a little. It wasn't that she thought that Warren was a threat, he's not, but thinking about what happened to her really turned her away from any guy at the moment.

It wasn't easy to talk because of all the worrying she was doing. She took in a couple cool gulps of air and let them out slowly, the anxiety running through her diminishing slightly. _Just breathe, Max. Just breathe..._ "I'm okay... Or at least I will be. I'm just... Really worried about Kate. I know Dana and Juliet are gonna start texting me asking where we are, and I don't know what to say to them... If I should just let Kate explain on her own time or make something up or-"

A light hand on her shoulder interrupted her worried rambling. Looking over, Warren gave her a small smile. "Max, everything is going to be fine. I'm here for you and so is Kate, and we're both here for Kate. You're not going to have to worry about all this stuff by yourself. I know that there's something else bugging you, but I won't push on it. Tell me in your own time or at least talk to someone about it."

All Max could muster at that point was a nod then taking in a deep breath to stabilize herself. Her hands had been shaking and she wasn't sure if it was from everything with Kate and thinking about her uncle or if it was because Warren was so close to her. For her, being in the precinct was a feat in and of itself. She knew in her head that they were all safe, but it was hard to trust anyone after what had happened to her.

They waited quietly for another half an hour or so before Kate walked back out and went over to Warren and Max. "They want me to go to the hospital and get some testing done. They said it would take awhile, and one of them would drop me off back at the school once everything was finished..."

"We can go with you if you want, Kate. We're here for you," Warren said, getting up and hugging her tightly. Kate returned his hug just as tight and shook her head into his shoulder.

"I'll be alright. Promise... I called my parents and told them what happened when the officer had to go talk to someone else and get papers for me... They said that they're going to investigate and try to figure out who was at the party and who could have done it... They're keeping everything anonymous until after they've found the person if they do so that it won't be as hard on me going to school. But it'll just be more waiting for you guys if you come, and I know you said you had stuff that you needed to get done tonight, Warren. Don't let me hold you up."

Max tuned out the conversation there and waited until the two finished talking before standing up and hugging Kate herself. All the emotions that she was feeling washed over her as she leaned a little on Kate for support as she got a passing pain in her head. "Don't worry Kate... We'll get you through this."

They said their goodbyes and her and Warren headed back out to his car, but the worried glances he was shooting her way weren't lost on her. She just didn't have the strength to talk to him at the moment or to tell him what was going on with her. She wasn't sure if she'd ever tell anyone. Would they even listen? Would they care? Probably not. Worrying about her wasn't worth their time anyway. Anymore, she wasn't sure how everyone thought of her. Her uncle had told her over and over how she wasn't worth anything to anybody and, after being told so for so long, she started to believe that it was true.

"Max, I need to stop by the junkyard for a project that I'm working on. Did you want to come with, or should I drop you off at the school then go?"

"I'll go with you. It'll help get my mind off of things anyway, and I like your projects. It'll be fun to get to help out with one." Max smiled a little as she got into Warren's car. She could see the relief on his face as well. Being out of there and away from all the people really helped calm her nerves.

With all the time that she'd spent between talking to Kate and then going with Warren and Kate to the police, it had already gotten dark outside. It was a little chilly, but luckily Max had put a jacket on before leaving the school. The soft, gentle music that Warren put on as he drove further helped to calm her nerves and by the time that they'd pulled into the junkyard, she wasn't shaking nearly as badly anymore. She was able to get easily out of the car and shut the door then head to the hood of the car.

"Okay, I'm just basically looking for scrap metal. Anything that I can use and can easily take apart for the metal. So no cars, because that's way too big to fit in my car and take back to the dorm," he smiled and headed over to a pile.

Max followed him and while he searched one end of the pile, she searched the other. It was busy work that gave her time to get her thoughts straight and compose herself better so that when she went back to her dorm she wouldn't end up breaking down. It wasn't an easy thing watching Kate go through all this, especially since Kate had always been such a sweetheart to everyone. There wasn't a lot that could be done for her because they didn't have any DNA from all the guys at the party, but Max was sure that the police would figure something out. She had to tell herself that at least. Kate deserved justice for what had happened to her.

Her thoughts turned to her uncle, causing her to visibly shiver. She knew that she should tell her parents about what had happened, but she didn't know if they would believe her. In front of them, her uncle had been a model citizen. He'd always told her that her opinion wasn't valued, even before the rape. She started to see it with her parents, too, so it had been easy to believe him. But what if he had been lying about it? She didn't know. She knew that she didn't have much value to others, so they'd probably just blow her off.

"Max, duck down!" Warren whisper-shouted to her, ducking down as light from headlights danced across a few piles before finding a place to rest on a small building.

She did as she was told and quietly made her way to behind Warren as someone got out of the car and slammed the door. From the position Max in, she couldn't see the person. She wasn't sure she wanted to either. She knew that some weirdos tended to hang out here during the day, which is why Warren had probably wanted to come at night and that people occasionally did drugs out here because it was secluded and away from town. But this time it just sounded like an angry teenager had come to vent, because not long after the car door slammed they heard they sound of something beating against one of the cars. It wasn't easy to tell how long that went on for but when it stopped she could hear the person say something really quietly.

At that point, Warren moved a little and that's when things came crashing down. Quite literally. When he moved, he'd accidentally shifted something just a bit too much which caused the pile they were standing near to start to landslide and crash. Warren fell to the side on his back and a small mound of the smaller things on top rested on his legs.

Max moved so that she could more easily talk to him and whispered, "Are you okay? How can I dig you out?" She froze when she heard the footsteps and saw the black boots nearby. She was stuck in place out of fear and wasn't able to look up. She didn't know who this person was or what they were capable of. What if it was a psycho who would take them captive? What if- _No, Max. You're letting your imagination get the best of you. Just deep breaths... In... Out... Oh, who am I kidding? I-_

"You really shouldn't be hanging around here unless you know what you're doing. Stuff like this happens. You're hella lucky your friend is here to help you or you'd be shit outta luck," the person said turning away from them. But Max recognized that voice. It was older sounding from the years they'd spent apart, but it was still her. It had to be her. That or she was just hearing things.

"Chloe?" Max asked, carefully standing up, the small amount of pain in her knees from crouching so long being ignored. She looked at the girl before her and she was so different than the girl Max had grown up with. A black beanie covered almost electric blue strands of hair that were cut short and didn't fall too far past her chin. Blue hair that used to be blonde.

The girl that had to be Chloe turned around to face her and she knew in that instant it was without a doubt Chloe. Max was ecstatic to see her.

"Oh hell no. Not tonight. I cannot do this tonight," Chloe said, turning back around to head to the car. But Max ran up and grabbed her arm. She wasn't going to let Chloe just walk away.

Touching Chloe sent a warm feeling through her body. It was comfortable and right to be near Chloe again. For the first time that day, constant anxiety didn't barrel through her. For the first time today, she was calm. "Can we please talk?"

Chloe turned to look at her and she felt the start of a tug, but she stopped midway through trying to pull her arm out of Max's grasp. "Let go of me and help your friend. I need to think for a minute."

Reluctantly, she let go of Chloe and went over to Warren. She kept an eye on the blue haired girl as she started to unbury Warren from the mountain of trash that he'd gotten under. "Since I know you're gonna ask, Chloe and I grew up together. Best friends since we were little girls. When I moved away, we lost touch. I haven't seen her in five years..."

"I see her around school occasionally. I'm actually kind of surprised that you two haven't run into each other already then, because she's one of Rachel's friends. Though I haven't see her around as much as I used to, Chloe used to come all the time just to see Rachel after class," Warren said as he was able to wriggle free after they'd gotten things moved and sit up properly. "I know Chloe has stopped coming around as much, though. I'm surprised that Rachel never mentioned her to you."

 _Why didn't Rachel tell me about Chloe at all? She always talked about all her other close friends, so why not Chloe?_ "Rachel never talks about her. All her other friends, yeah. Her boyfriend, yeah. But I don't think she's ever mentioned Chloe to me at all. And if she did, never by name. I wonder if they had a falling out?"

Warren shrugged and nodded his head in Chloe's direction. "I can take care of looking for what I need. You go talk to her."

Max looked over at Chloe then stood up and started on her way over there and cleared her throat once she got close enough. "I'm really sorry for losing contact, Chloe. Honest. I know you've gotta be mad at me for it, but things just started happening. I know that's no excuse..."

"You were my best friend, Max. You guys moved, and I had **no one** after my dad died. Do you get how painful that was? Having to help my mom through everything alone, listening to her sobbing at night from my room because Dad was gone? Yeah, there is no excuse that could make up for it. You **knew** I needed you, Max. I **begged** your parents to let you stay in Arcadia Bay with me and Mom. Remember that? Hell, I even tried to practically kidnap you before you guys moved, but you still tossed me to the side as soon as you were gone. Why, Max? Was I not important enough now that you were outta this shithole of a town? Was I just not "cool" enough for your new life in Seattle?" The bite and pain in Chloe's voice was tangible, but this was still the girl she'd considered a best friend five years ago. This was still Chloe Price. A very hurt and broken Chloe, but still her. And she knew that she deserved whatever she had to dish out at her.

"I know all that, Chloe. I know the way it seems, but that isn't how I felt. You were my best friend, and I felt just as horrible leaving you as you did with me leaving. I'm sorry you had to go through all that alone. I'm sorry for abandoning you like that. I really shouldn't have, because over the past five years I really could have used a best friend like you. After everything that's happened, I pushed you away. I... I've gone through **so** much these past five years, Chloe... It's too much to even start explaining. It's all stuff that not even my parents know, but you deserve an explanation. I don't deserve your time or your forgiveness, but please at least hear me out..."

She knew it wouldn't be easy talking to Chloe about what she'd been through, and she didn't plan on telling her about her uncle forcing himself on her. But Chloe deserved at least part of the truth. Chloe deserve to know what happened and where things went wrong. She looked over at Warren who was walking toward them with a small smile. Just a little bit more time till she heard Chloe's response.

"Hey, I need to get back to school... Are you ready to go?" He asked, scratching the back of his neck and looking between the two. It was fairly obvious that he knew he was walking in on a tense conversation and wanted away from it as quickly as possible.

Chloe answered before Max even had a chance to open her mouth. "Don't worry about it. I'll get Max back. Her and I have things to talk about anyway," Chloe said before opening up the driver side door to her car. "That okay with you, Max?" Chloe looked at her out of the corner of her eye. It was at least a start that she was being allowed to continue to explain.

Max nodded and said a quick goodbye to Warren before getting in Chloe's truck and they drove off. She started going through everything that she wanted to tell Chloe. All the things that she needed to say and all the things that should be left out. She wanted to tell Chloe about how she was going to text her the night before she left Seattle. After that night though, texting Chloe had become a trigger for her anxiety. A trigger for flashbacks to the night her uncle abused her...

A sense of nostalgia and excitement filled her as they pulled in at Chloe's house. It was the same old house that it had been when they were kids, right down to the half finished paint job. _Guess after William passed no one got around to finishing it..._ Max got out of the truck and shut the door, walking up the familiar front path right behind Chloe and inside. It was quiet, but it still felt like home like it had when she was thirteen. She could almost smell the pancakes and bacon cooking like they had the majority of the mornings Max stayed there.

When they got to the top of the stairs, Chloe's hand lingered on the doorknob, but she eventually pushed it open so that both girls could go inside. But Chloe had stopped in the doorway, and Max got up behind her to look over her shoulder and see Rachel sitting on the bed.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Quick note here. Hearing from you guys in reviews really helps me to write these chapters. It lets me know that you're reading this and it matters to you. I don't care if it's a quick review of "great chapter! Can't wait for the next one!" or something more involved. I don't want to sound whiny or rude, asking for reviews like this, I would just love to see what all of you have to say. Every little bit helps. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter! :)**_


	4. Unbridled Fury and Hot Chocolate

_**Protector**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of Life is Strange. Please excuse any spelling mistakes/errors. I try my best. I'm always open to ideas and comments, so if you have an idea of where you think the story should do shoot me a PM or write it in a review. It just might find its way into the story.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Unbridled Fury and Hot Chocolate**

 _ **Monday October 14th, 2013**_

Her body shook, staring at the brunette sitting on her bed. Rage boiled inside her until it was almost as if her insides had lit on fire. Tonight was just not her night. If it hadn't been seeing Rachel kissing Frank, it was being reunited with Max. Now, here was Rachel sitting there waiting like nothing had changed at all. She even got up and came toward Chloe, but one glare stopped her in her tracks. "Get out of my room."

"Oh come on, Chloe. We can work this out. Just let me explain," Rachel said, a small smile on her lips. "Or are you too busy now with Max to talk with your best friend?"

"What best friend? Best friends don't stab each other in the back. They don't lie and hide shit so that they can go and date multiple people. Best friends wouldn't abandon you the way you have with me. Now get the fuck out of my room, because I'm _not_ talking to you." It took everything in her not to just lunge and punch Rachel and to keep her temper, but there was still that small part of that **wanted** to hear Rachel's side of things. That wanted to hear that things were going to still be the same between them, but she knew that the scenario she wished so desperately for was all just something she wanted.

"Chloe, I have a reason and if you'll just calm down and listen to me-" She started but Chloe stopped her by quickly moving from her spot in the doorway and shoving Rachel in the direction of the bed, causing her to stumble back and fall.

"I said no, Rachel! I'm sick of your bullshit, okay?! All I am is someone for you to fuck around with while your stupid boyfriend is busy! I'm not blind! You haven't been paying attention to me, to **us** , for months now! Now I know why, and don't even try to pretend like it's anything other than you going and fucking around with Frank! I **knew** something was going on, but I thought that if it was anything like this you would have had the guts to fucking **tell** me, because you know how I feel! I can't do this tonight, Rachel! I've had enough! Get out of my room! Now! Leave!"

Thundering steps came up from the downstairs and in seconds David was in her doorway, Max having moved to the side after Chloe had moved toward Rachel. He took one look at the situation in front of him, his step-daughter's face red as a cherry tomato with Rachel laying on the bed, looking up at the slightly older girl. "What in the world is going on up here?"

Chloe turned to David and, for the first time ever, she was glad to see him. "Get her out!"

Even David could tell that there was no messing around with Chloe right now and let it slide that she was yelling at the top of her lungs at him. Chloe's body still shook with anger as David forcibly removed Rachel from the room and walked down the stairs. She collapsed onto the edge of the bed, trying to steady her breathing and her shaking hands. She hadn't gotten that out of control in a long time, and it really scared the shit out of her. She knew that she'd sounded like a little kid throwing a tantrum, but it really didn't bother her. This was nothing new to her, but it had been two years since the last time it happened. Before she met Rachel.

Looking up, she saw Max shut the door and take in her surroundings. "Sorry it's such a mess. It's one room I won't let Mom touch when she's on a cleaning spree. And... Sorry you had to see that. Rachel and I... we used to be close. Guess that's over now, too." She got up and went over to her desk, opening the drawer and pulling out a joint. She **so** needed it after the long ass day she'd just had. _Maybe I'll go out and grab a few beers with Justin and Trevor later. Least it's someone..._ "Just like everything else in my life."

Lighting up, she motioned for Max to sit on the bed while she turned the desk chair around and sat down, leaning forward on the back. "So, talk to me. I've had a hella long day, and it's your turn to do some talking, Caulfield." At least if Max was talking it was something else to focus on. Something to get her anger and the traces of the hurt from Rachel to subside for a short while.

Max awkwardly sat on the bed and looked at her hands which softened Chloe's heart just a little. She knew how Max could be. "I'm so sorry about leaving you hanging after I left Arcadia Bay, Chloe... William was like a father to me, too. I was grieving just like you were. And I know, the pain I felt couldn't even compare to the pain you felt. I just... didn't know how to handle it. Mom and Dad tried to help where they could. My uncle wasn't all that great of a guy. Mom and Dad never really noticed, because he'd cover it up or do it when they weren't around...

"Making friends and talking to people has always been hard for me... You know that. Back when we were kids, I was always bullied because I'm different. It didn't change just because I moved to Seattle. I was still that awkward, scared kid who needed her best friend. I just kind of shut down for awhile after we moved. I pushed everyone away, and the bullying didn't cease. I actually ended up being homeschooled after the first year in Seattle because of everything. But I still took some classes for a few hours at the school twice a week. Then a photography class at the event center on the weekends. That's the only real fun that I had.

"I didn't contact you, because it took so long to get settled in there... I was grieving about William, I was being bullied at home by my uncle, I wasn't making friends... It was hard. Another big reason for the move to Seattle was because Mom and Dad thought that they'd be able to get better counseling for me. Eventually we found a good counselor, but I still miss the one I had here. I just... I didn't know how to start the conversation, Chloe... It caused me so much anxiety it isn't even funny... So I stopped thinking about it, even after moving back here. I figured you'd have moved on and forgotten about me..."

Max finished, still not meeting her eye. Chloe could see the fear on her best friend's face. She knew that it was because she was afraid of being rejected, but it wasn't that easy to forgive. Her mom had told her when they were younger that Max was special and that she needed to be more gentle with her. That had been a few months after knowing the brunette because they'd gotten into a small disagreement. No one had ever explained to her past that what made Max "special". But after that fight, she'd protected Max with even more fierceness.

"I guess I get it. But you owe me, Max," she said, waving her finger jokingly at the younger girl. After everything that had happened that day and into the evening, this is what she needed the most. She wasn't going to let Max get off easy though. She'd done that with Rachel and look where that got her. Losing the love of her life. Or who she thought was the love of her life, because maybe Rachel wasn't for her. Maybe she only loved Rachel because she had been that constant when she had needed it most.

The two talked a little bit longer before Chloe had to drop Max back off at school. Heck, the brunette really wasn't even supposed to be out as late as she was, but she'd insisted on going back, because she had a friend she needed to check on in the morning. So she'd complied begrudgingly and then went home. Before laying down in bed she checked her messages on her phone and was a little surprised to see all the texts from Rachel. _Too late, Rachel. Should've been paying attention to me when we were together._

She flopped onto her bed, still fully clothed and just stared at the ceiling. The day had been a long one with a lot going on and more truths found out than she would have liked. It really brought her entire mood down when Frank had shown up on their date and she'd found out about Rachel. But really, better late than never. She deserved better than to be treated like Rachel treated her, and she was going to stick with that. She hoped.

 _It had been a long time since she'd had a nightmare. A long time since her demons had reared their ugly heads, but here they were in full force. Attacking her subconscious, reminding her that she wasn't anything special and everyone would leave her someday. The darkness surrounded her and everyone she cared about disappeared. And she was alone... Well and truly alone._

That morning she woke up covered in a cold sweat and tears on her face from the things she couldn't remember dreaming. Dreams came and went, but there were only a few that she could really grasp and actually remember. Most were the good ones. The ones involving her angel. Rachel...

Sitting up and stretching she eyed her phone. As if on cue, it started to buzz, telling her there was an incoming call. Looking over she saw Rachel's name and hit the ignore button and then stood up, changing out of yesterday's clothes and putting on new ones.

 _Hella boring morning routine? Check._ It wasn't long after that when her phone started to going off again with Rachel's name against the screen. She answered. "Listen, I'm not talking with you or working this out or some shit like that. Our relationship was practically over before last night, and I really don't give a single fuck how "sorry" you are. We both know you're not sorry and that you were probably fucking with Frank **long** before I saw that kiss last night. Stop texting, stop calling, and stop trying to make contact. It's **over**."

"Ready to let me talk now? I get that you're pissed, but this is way more important than our fight. Which I'm still not going to drop later. Anyway, I was calling to let you know that Max is in the hospital. She was acting really out of it this morning before classes and one of the teachers noticed and took her to the office. They sent her off to the hospital. Dunno why since she just seemed distracted, but I thought you'd want to know since I saw you with her last night before I was kicked out," Rachel said. She actually sounded worried, which didn't help Chloe's nerves one bit.

It hit Chloe like a bus. It didn't even register the slight jab about being thrown out that Rachel had thrown before Chloe had the call hung up and was heading down the stairs and out the door, heading into her truck. Had Max ever had an issue like this before when they were kids? She knew that the brunette had times where she wasn't at school or that she focused intently on one things instead of what she was supposed to be doing, but being so out of it that the teachers thought she needed the hospital? That couldn't be good.

Knowing Blackhell, her mind went straight to drugs. But who would have drugged Max? Did Max have any enemies there? It wasn't like she would know since they'd just gotten to talking again the night before, but there's no way quiet Max had made some enemy that would drug her. Unless... _No. No way. Rachel wouldn't do anything to her just because of things between us. Her and Max are friends anyway, so what reason would she have to drug Max? No, it has to be something else..._

It didn't take her long to get to the hospital and weasel Max's room number out of a nurse. It was nerve wracking to wait for the elevator, so she had decided to take the stairs two at a time to get to Max's room. Stopping momentarily outside of Max's room, she had to question why she'd just raced this whole way. Deep down, she knew the reason was because she still loved Max. They'd been best friends since they were seven until they were fourteen. Five years hadn't changed a thing. Not for Chloe, anyway. She didn't want to distance Max or keep her at arm's length, even if she was scared of being abandoned again, something she'd never admit to anyone but her innermost self.

She slowly pushed the door open and peeked in to see Max sitting up and chatting on the phone. She stayed in the small area near the door and only moved toward where Max was once she was off the phone. "Hey, hippie. Whatcha in for?"

A small smile on Max's face and Chloe's day had just been brightened. "Just the teachers freaking out. No biggie. The doctor on the first floor wanted to keep me for a few hours so I got moved up to a room so they had more room downstairs. How'd you know I was here?"

"Having to listen to Rachel talk. She called and told me. Are you really okay?" Worry laced her tone. Usually she'd try to hide stuff like that, but not this time. Did this have to do with Max's "specialness" that she'd heard about when they were younger maybe? If it wasn't drugs.

Max chucked and nodded. "Don't worry, Che. I'm fine. This happens sometimes... I'll tell you about it when I'm backing to thinking more clearly than I am now. Honestly, I don't actually remember much of this morning, which means I was totally spaced out. Victoria is gonna have a field day..."

"Victoria Chase? That rich bitch? If she gives you any trouble, come tell me. I'll get things squared away for you right away." She punched her open hand which got another smile out of Max. She was on a roll today. "So since you're here for a few hours, I'll be your company. You don't have a choice." Anything to not be alone in her room anymore. Plus, this was Max. They had to rebuild a relationship somehow...

"Honestly, I'd rather you stayed anyway. Better than being alone and having to talk to all the doctors alone. I just got off the phone before you came in with my mom and dad. They're worried, but I calmed them down. Got them to realize it wasn't a sign of anything and stuff like that. Though, I'm not allowed to leave the room and I want something besides water to drink..."

"I'm on it," she said, getting up and heading out the door before Max could say a word. She couldn't explain this happiness she felt. Questioning it was a bad idea, because then she'd start to overthink. Heading down to the cafeteria, she got the two of them hot chocolate and made her way back to Max's room. Hot chocolate had been a drink that they'd loved as children, sitting near the fireplace at Chloe's house and watching it snow outside while they were huddled under a blanket.

It really was a breath of fresh air being back around Max and talking like old times. It was like nothing had changed and everything had changed all at once. It was confusing and conflicting. On one hand, Chloe wanted to let herself melt right back into how things were before her best friend had moved, especially after losing Rachel. On the other, she didn't want to let Max too close, because she didn't know for sure if she would get left again. Everybody always leaves. It had become like her mantra in the past five years.

"Chloe, how about this weekend we go out and do something? I don't know what yet, but we can talk about it later when I'm out of here," Max said, finishing off her cup of hot chocolate.

"I'll take you to my secret lair," Chloe smiled, thinking of the junkyard. "It's actually pretty cool. Can't hang out at home because step-ass is there most of the time, and I can't do anything when he's around. My music is **always** too loud or I'm being annoying or I'm unmotivated and not doing anything with my life and it pisses him off." Chloe shrugged then continued, "You saw him last night. I don't even know what Mom sees in the guy. He's just an army control freak who thinks he's still in a war zone."

"He's also the Blackwell security guard. I know him. Not very well, but I know of him. He seems wrapped around the Prescott's finger like everyone else that works in this town. I was actually really surprised when Nathan had his breakdown and he actually did something about it. Now Nathan isn't at school and is at some rehab facility. So they say, anyway. I think they sent him off to the loony bin," Max said with a shrug.

"Wouldn't be a surprise to me. Nathan was an asshole, even more so than some of the other rich kids there. But listen, we're gonna have a hella awesome dinner once they let you outta here and then you're staying over at my house. I'll drive you back to school tomorrow morning. Swear. Plus, I'm sure Mom would love to see you again. She still works at the diner so we can have dinner there. Sound good?"

* * *

She wasn't sure when it had been, if between the honest laughter or the talks about the past, but during their time at the diner it dawned on Chloe that her feelings for Max were returning with a vengeance. Even when they were fourteen, Chloe had loved Max. It was something that Rachel had helped her realize and come to terms with when they'd met. At fourteen years old, she'd fallen in love with her best friend. The only person that knew was Rachel, and it had been the cause of small fights in the beginning of their relationship. Rachel being jealous.

It had been a secret from everyone, and she sure as hell wasn't telling Max. It was obvious Max was hella straight, and it would just complicate the friendship that they were re-building. Why would Max like her anyway? She wasn't anything special.

* * *

 _ **A/N: And now we start touching on the Pricefield aspect of things. :) And more is on the way. There is a reason for Max's spaceyness, I promise. I will say ahead of time, it is from my own personal experiece with someone in my family with the issue, and I've done my research on all of the things that I'm going to have happen with Max and Chloe. I try to stay as close to the truth of things as possible and keep it as realistic as I can.**_

 _ **I'd love to hear your thoughts on the story!**_


	5. Aye Aye, Captain!

_**Protector**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of Life is Strange. Please excuse any spelling mistakes/errors. I try my best. I'm always open to ideas and comments, so if you have an idea of where you think the story should do shoot me a PM or write it in a review. It just might find its way into the story.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Aye Aye, Captain!**

 _ **Sunday October 27, 2013**_

The past almost two weeks had seriously been the best of Max's life to date. Her and Chloe were getting closer and closer as each day passed, and they were basically back to their old antics. This upcoming weekend was Dana's Halloween party, which Max had told Chloe that they were going to whether the blue haired punk liked it or not. **And** they were going to dress up for it. They had yet to buy their costumes though, but they'd planned to do that today. Chloe had tried to back out of it multiple times, but she wasn't going to let her get away that easily. Originally, it had been Chloe convincing Max that they weren't going to go and would spend the night at Chloe's house watching scary movies all night long, but Dana had nipped that in the bud when Max had said they weren't going to make it.

As if on cue, Max's phone rang as she slipped her familiar satchel bag or her shoulder. "Chloe, I'll be down in a minute. Ya gotta give me time. **Some** of us don't have boundless reserves of energy like you do."

"I'm gonna go drive home if you take too much longer, matey," Chloe said in her best pirate impersonation. "Oh, and we're gonna go as pirates. If I have to dress up for this Halloween party that I'm being dragged to, I get to pick the costumes. Plus, we'd make some hella sexy pirates."

That got a chuckle out of Max who headed out her door. "And of course you're gonna choose pirates. What next? Finding our old hideouts and dressing up to go loot some booty?"

"Oh you wish, first mate Max. Now get your scrawny ass down here before I leave you behind in my dust," Chloe said with a chuckle, hanging up before Max could say anything.

Talking to Chloe always brought a smile to her face. It was like time had never passed between them and they were still young and carefree. As she walked down the hallway, Kate came out of her room with a few bags and turned, smiling at Max.

"Hey, I was just going to come talk to you really quick... After everything that's happened, my parents are coming to get me and I'm going to visit them for a bit... It's already been cleared with Principal Wells and everything. I'll only be gone for a few weeks while they finish up the investigation and everything..." She put her stuff down and hugged Max tightly with a small smile. "Thanks for everything. For being here for me and helping me through all this. I don't know what I would have done without you..."

Kate leaving caught Max off guard for a second, but she quickly gathered herself and hugged Kate back, feigning happiness. On one hand, she was happy for Kate. She was going to get to get away from all the stress for a little bit and relax with her family. On the other, selfish, side she needed Kate in a way. _Maybe Chloe will be enough, though... Warren, too... It's not forever. Just a few weeks, Max._ "I'll miss you. Have fun, and try not to think about everything here. Take this as a little mini vacation."

Kate smiled and nodded then picked up her stuff and left. It really was difficult, watching her go. Kate had all the support she needed and then some after what happened to her, and Max was glad that she could be a part of that. That she could help Kate through everything when she hadn't been able to get help for herself.

It didn't take her long to get out to Chloe's truck and get in. "Sorry. After I got off the phone with you Kate was in the hallway leaving. I had to say goodbye."

"I just about left you in favor of breakfast at the Two Whales by my lonesome. That's what we should do! Every time you're late, we go get breakfast. Your treat," Chloe smiled, starting to drive. That was just like Chloe. Food always on the brain. Especially breakfast. Bacon being the girl's one weakness. Bacon was Chloe's kryptonite, in a good way.

"Or lunch. But let's head to the costume shop first, because we really need to get that all sorted and ready. It's only a few days till the Halloween party of doom that will suck the soul right outta ya," Max chuckled, nudging Chloe's arm. "That's what you said, right? We'll just pretend everyone there are vampires or something, and we have to hunt them. That's why we're going."

"Stuff of horror movies there, Maxaroni. All your classmates turned vampires and they're after **your** blood. Only to have to fight for your life with your best friend/captain. Which, by the way, means I get the girl at the end of all of it."

They talked like that all the way to the costume shop and once they got inside, the real hunt began. Max wasn't objecting to Chloe's choice of them being pirates. That's what they'd always been as kids, and she thought it was sweet. It would their own little inside thing that only they knew about. Though, maybe Rachel did, too. That was one topic that the two had never really fully discussed yet, and neither was keen on bringing it up. For Chloe, it was still a fresh wound and Max knew it.

She let her mind wander as she looked for pirate costumes for the both of them. It was nearing the end of October, which meant that November was coming up and along with that came Thanksgiving. She **really** wasn't keen on going home for the holiday. She almost just wanted her parents to come down to Arcadia Bay to spend time with her. That way maybe she wouldn't have to see her uncle. Plus, her parents loved Joyce. She was almost positive that they'd love to catch up with her as much as Max loved catching up with both Price women.

In reality, she'd been thinking about Chloe a lot lately. Sometimes her mind would just run away during class and there she was battling for treasure with her best friend like they had in the past. Nostalgia was everywhere in Arcadia Bay. Even here at the costume store. There had been their first Halloween together that they'd dressed up. Joyce had brought them to buy costumes and Chloe, taking charge like always, grabbed matching costumes for them. That's when their pirate adventures started. Chloe had grabbed two pirate costumes, and they changed things around a little. Chloe got the pirate hat and Max got the eye patch. Captain and first mate, forever and always.

Walking along she spotted Chloe who smiled at her, and she felt butterflies. Chloe smiling seemed to always brighten her day just a little bit more with each grin. It was weird, but she just chalked it up to their best friendliness. She was attached, When they parted, it was difficult. Max wanted to just stay with the blue haired punk all the time. Which basically happened anyway. They'd been spending more and more time together. Last weekend they'd actually spent the whole time together. Max slept over from Friday night to Sunday in the afternoon. _Just like when we were kids..._

Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by something being thrown over her head. "Chloe: 2 and Max: 0! Haha! You're buying lunch and I get dessert out of you."

Pulling the clothes off her head, she noticed it was a pirate costume and that Chloe had one in her hand as well. "Oh? Because I think I have to actually **like** the costumes before we get them. And who knows? Maybe I won't like it."

"Oh stuff it. You've always loved my sense of style. Plus, these are like the only pirate costumes in our sizes. Unless you'd rather go as a princess and I'll go as your knight in shining armor," Chloe smiled, pretending to hold a sword in front of her and swinging it. _She's so adorable_ , Max thought with a smile. Thinking that kind of took her back as well.

"Well, let me go try it on and we'll see. This seriously better not be one of those "adult" costumes though, Che," she said with a chuckle, heading for the dressing rooms.

 _Of course it's perfect._ Max thought to herself, looking the costume over in the full length mirror in the dressing room while wearing it. It was made of a really comfortable material. The top was white and a little poofy, long sleeved with a small v-neck. The black pants, also poofy, reached down to about three quarters down her leg. You had to supply your own boots. A belt with a fake dagger also came with it as well as a skull necklace. _Damnit, Chloe._ She left the dressing room and found Chloe. "Fine, you win. It's perfect. I just need-"

"An eye patch?" Chloe asked, holding up a black eye patch and tossing it to her. "I also already found me a hat. Now go change outta that so we can pay and get lunch."

Max quickly changed, thinking about how much fun the Halloween party was going to be. Kate had been invited, but Max was sure that Dana would understand Kate's leaving before the party. Just about the whole school had been invited, including the Vortex Club, but Max hoped that they'd all be able to just get along for one night. She wouldn't have minded scary movies at Chloe's that night so long as they were doing something in the spirit of Halloween, but Dana had been able to convince her to go. It had been awhile since she'd gone to any kind of party like that.

After getting outside and into Chloe's truck, they started driving again. "I will deny everything if you tell anyone, but I'm actually kind of looking forward to this party. A little. I've... missed hanging out with someone like this. A lot. Rachel and I used to all the time, but..."

"What Rachel did really hurt you..." Max trailed off when she saw the pained look on Chloe's face. It was still a pretty sore subject, one that was avoided at all costs. Ever since she'd found out what Rachel had done to Chloe, she'd distanced herself a bit from the girl. Okay, so maybe a little more than a bit. She avoided the brunette like the plague when she could help it. And when she couldn't, she kept their conversations short.

"I hate that things between me and her messed up you two's friendship. She really isn't that bad of a person. Just, I guess she was too afraid to break up with me..." For some reason, jealousy bubbled within Max. She hated that Chloe was defending Rachel and what she did. She hated that Rachel still held her best friend's heart after what she'd put the blue haired punk through. Rachel was something to Chloe that Max herself felt she could never be. Not again.

"Che, a good person wouldn't do what she did to you. Heck, you told me that you talked to her about me. Doesn't that tell you something that I've known Rachel since school started and she never once mentioned us to one another? That she never talked to me about her girlfriend and only Frank and that she never brought up to you that I was back around?" It was something that had been on her mind lately. Rachel kept them from each other. That's the way it seems.

"I know... I know. Honestly... She probably felt threatened by you if anything. That you were a threat to us and our relationship or something. It's stupid. I should be mad at her and hate her for everything, but it's hard... After everything we've been through, after everything she did for me, it's so hard to just hate her. She was the only one there when I needed someone the most. When I was ready to just end everything," Chloe said, pulling over to the side of the road.

"Why'd we stop?" Max asked, confused. She tried to get a good look at Chloe's face, but Chloe was facing the other direction. "I don't blame you for still holding Rachel close, Che. Honest. I know she helped you through some pretty tough stuff, and it's hard to let go of people like that. But sometimes it's for the best. I believe everything happens for a reason, and-"

"Max, I love you. Okay? That's why Rachel tried to keep us apart," Chloe said, still not looking in her direction. Max didn't understand. They'd always loved each other. They were like sisters from different parents. They'd been inseparable as children. This wasn't news.

"I love you, too, Chloe. But why would she keep us apart, because we're best friends? You're like family to me."

"No, Max. Not like friendship kind of love or family kind of love. The 'I want to spend the rest of my life with you' kind of love," Chloe said turning to face her. "I love you, Max. I always have. Rachel helped me to realize it after her and I met. That's why she kept us apart, because she knew she'd lose me when we were reunited. Even if I can't be with you like that, I still love you enough to just want you happy. That's why I didn't say anything, because I know you don't feel that way toward me. No one ever could with how fucked up I am. But I just need you to know that, Max. Just, please don't leave me again... That's all I ask for..."

"I'm not leaving again, Chloe. Not ever. And honestly, I don't know how I feel or which way I "swing". I just don't know yet. I've never really given it much thought. I don't think I've ever really liked anyone like that. But I can promise you one thing. I'm never ever leaving you again, Chloe. And I'm so sorry for ever leaving in the first place. There's so much more to the story that I'm just not ready to open up about yet. Nobody knows about it, but you'll be the first person I tell when I am ready, okay?" She leaned over and hugged Chloe tightly. Hearing Chloe proclaim her love for her had really shocked her. Even though she knew that Chloe was into girls, it had never crossed her mind that she could have fallen for her. And maybe that's what those butterflies were. Maybe that's what the jealous was about. But for the time being, she wasn't gonna go digging. What ever was meant to happen would happen.

* * *

 **_A/N: I'm so sorry about not getting this chapter out on Tuesday, but things ended up happening and I wasn't able to get it out. Then my muse went away. So now we're here at Friday with this chapter. :) I kept it fairly sweet for most of the chapter with a little bit of plot development at the end. I'm happy with it. Had I tried to release this sooner or tried to rush through it to release it on Tuesday, I know I wouldn't have been as happy with it._**

 _ **Please don't forget o leave a review. I love hearing from you guys, and I'll try to respond to all reviews, especially if you have a question you want answered. Though I won't answer things about the plot to come. :)**_

 _ **I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!**_


	6. Halloween

_**Protector**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of Life is Strange. Please excuse any spelling mistakes/errors. I try my best. I'm always open to ideas and comments, so if you have an idea of where you think the story should do shoot me a PM or write it in a review. It just might find its way into the story.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Halloween  
** _ **Monday October 28, 2013**_

She hated to admit it, but she was actually extremely excited for the weekend to get here. Her and Max already had the whole time planned out for the two of them. Thursday was Dana's Halloween party in which Chloe had already been told that she better not get too drunk, and she planned to listen to that. After the party, Chloe was gonna stay the night in Max's dorm and they were gonna watch a scary movie. Max was going to play hooky on Friday, which Chloe had masterfully convinved her to do, and they were going to spend the whole day out and about in town. Then all weekend Max was going to spend the night at her house until Sunday afternoon. Or Monday morning, if Chloe had her way.

It had been a long time since the blue haired punk had been this excited for time to pass. She just kept her fingers crossed that nothing ruined it. She wanted Halloween to be special, because she knew that it was Max's favorite holiday. Especially after her confession the other day, she wanted to make sure that Max was as happy as possible. It had been hella awkward for her to say all that, but Max had calmed her after she had. If Rachel had been her light in the dark, Max was her reason to feel again. Her happiness. Her joy. Her childhood wonder and excitement.

Thursday couldn't come soon enough, and as the days passed Chloe let herself get more and more excited. Even her mom and David noticed the change in her demeanor. Thursday morning she had gotten up early and, for the first time since William died, she was cooking breakfast and not in bed till all hours of the morning. She made them both pancakes and fried eggs, using her mother's recipe.

"Not that I'm not grateful for the breakfast," David said as Chloe put the plates in front of them, "but there's nothing in these, right?"

"Nope! One hundred percent Mom's recipe," Chloe smiled a little. "I guess I can let slide the confusion, but I'm not trying to poison you or anything. I'm just, in a good mood." She shrugged and grabbed her own plate and brought the jug of orange juice from the fridge over to the table and started to eat.

"It's nice to see you up and about this early, but what's the catch? You never get out of bed this early or make us breakfast," Joyce said, her skeptic side showing as she ate.

"Don't ruin it. I'm just in a good mood. Honest. Oh, and by the way, Max is spending the night all weekend. I figured I'd mention it now before I bring her home tomorrow." She scarfed down her food and headed upstairs once she was done. She knew that this burst of happiness wouldn't last very long, but it would be milked for all it's worth. She looked around her room and saw an old sketchbook of hers and started flipping through it.

Even though her mood had brightened a little, she still couldn't bring herself to pick up a pencil and draw. If all the bad things in her life hadn't happened, she knew that she would have been an artist like Max. Just her tools would have been paper and pen. Eventually she hoped to be able to draw again, but for now she just needed the book and a small bag so that she had stuff for tonight and the following morning. She shoved the sketchbook in there and busied herself with tidying up her room and took a nap till three in the afternoon.

She quickly slipped into her costume and pulled on jeans and her jacket over all of it and placed her usual clothes into her overnight bag. Excitement still ran through her as she went downstairs and out to her truck. It had subsided a bit since earlier in the day, but it was still there. She pulled out her phone and called Max.

"Hey, how was your day, Che?" Max asked, answering on the first ring.

"Good for once, actually. Surprised the hell out of Mom and David this morning by waking up early and making them breakfast. They thought I'd messed with it just wanted something. Ha. Nah, if I was gonna mess with them I'd do it at diner then leave the house so that they couldn't yell. Anyway, I'm on my way to Blackhell now. Got something to show you, too. Did you get the movie I told you to get?" she asked, pulling out of the driveway and watching the scenery as she drove.

"Yeah, I did. We'll have to watch it on my tiny laptop screen, but I've got your movie. **And** I was able to get some soda and candy for us as well. Dana was able to get use of the pool since she's in the Vortex Club, so that's where the party is. She said you get beer if you're in costume. And there are going to be prize drawings and stuff like that."

"Hell yeah! You and I are so entering some contest to see if we don't win. We're gonna be the sexiest pirates there. And maybe Dana can swing the vote in-"

"Chloe!" Max laughed. "We're not cheating to win. We'll win all be ourselves and be proud of it. But hurry and get here. I'm gonna have Warren take pictures of us in our costumes before the party. Which starts at five. And Dana said there was gonna be food there, so I'm skipping dinner."

"Yeah... I've not eaten since breakfast. So she better have food. So Super Max, what've you been up to on this creepy Halloween?" she asked with a small smile as she drove through town. It didn't take long to get to Blackwell, but she was almost purposefully taking her time. She was excited to see Max, but there was that small voice reminding her that Rachel lived there soon and they might run into each other.

"Boring. I had trouble concentrating in class today, so I screwed up when I was asked a question. Didn't really have anything else class wise since about one, so I've just been hanging out with Warren in the science room and helping him with homework and stuff. Though I wouldn't really call it helping so much as distracting him with science puns and talking about random stuff. Today feels like it's dragged on. But it's finally three, and then we have the party and the whole weekend to ourselves."

Chloe chuckled. "Could I ask you to do me a huge favor? I really don't want to see Rachel when I'm coming to your room, so can you find some way to distract her? See if Dana can't keep her in her room or something so I can get in without catching sight of her? I know that if she sees me, she's gonna want to talk. And I **really** don't want her to ruin this good mood."

"Already taken care of. I had Dana ask her for help with the decorations for the pool earlier today. So she's been out when she wasn't in classes."

"Well, I'm on my way. Be there soon, first mate."

* * *

Chloe had to admit that Dana had outdone herself. Even if she didn't like the girl, she knew how to throw a good Halloween party. Max seemed to be having fun as well, and it really kept Chloe's mood balanced.

The party had been separated off a bit, with members of the Vortex Club in their own little area. Dana was going through the whole party, talking to anyone who had a moment and showing off her amazing witch costume. She had to give the girl props. Just about everyone was dressed up, and she'd seen a few people dressed in renaissance costumes with the masks and everything. Her and Max had made altercations to their costumes and Chloe was now an undead pirate captain and Max was her human first mate. Though she did get a peg leg.

The music was loud enough that she could feel it pounding and vibrating through her whole body, but she didn't mind. She actually loved it and was soaking the entire experience in. She was a little buzzed already, which she was choosing to try and keep from Max. As time had gone on after waking up from her nap, her good mood had started to go down to a dull after an hour of being at Blackwell. In part because of being within the same area of Rachel and the anxiety that reared its head thinking about the possibility of running into the girl.

Looking at Max though as she danced awkwardly next to her, it brought a smile to her face. Just a small one, but still a smile. Everything since Max's returned had changed her life so drastically, and she welcomed the peace and calm. But she knew that eventually she'd have to tell Max everything about their time apart. Everything about the month before they were reunited. There were stories to be told and shared between the two, and she could feel it. Max had a secret, too, just like she did. Chloe knew that Max would tell her what happened in her own time, and Chloe would do the same. But for tonight, the demons in her head didn't matter. All that mattered was her and Max.

After a little while, Dana got up on stage and had the music turned down. "Alright everyone, it's time for the prizes! Courtesy of some of the teachers as well as some of our fellow students, we have a few cash prizes to win! So we have four categories: Most Original, Scariest, Dynamic Duo, and Funniest! Everyone who attended entered by being here, and all the costumes and who was in them were handed off to a few teachers for them to vote between! Without further ado," a small drum roll played over the speakers as Dana opened a sealed envelope and opened the note inside.

At that point Chloe tuned her out and just thought about going back to Max's room and watching movies. It wasn't till Max shook her shoulder with a huge grin plastered to her face that she tuned back into reality.

"We won, Che!" Max exclaimed, jumping up in excitement like a little kid in a candy store. She grabbed Chloe by the arm and started dragging her toward where Dana stood so that they could accept their money. It wasn't long after that the two decided to call it a night and head back to Max's room to watch movies. They'd won forty dollars each for winning the contest, a fact that both were proud of.

"Now Max," Chloe said in a faux teacher voice. "No screaming in terror during the movie. Even during the scariest parts." She smiled a little and playfully bumped into Max. "No worries. I can cover your eyes if you need me to."

"Oh yeah, I'll totally be cowering in my shoes like a certain someone used to do during scary movies growing up," Max said with a slight chuckle get a scoff out of Chloe.

"You just keep telling yourself that, Caulfield," she smiled putting in the movie and looking back to see Max suddenly locking the screen of her phone and tossing it to the end of her bed. Chloe ignored that weird behavior and grabbed the brunette's laptop, sitting down next to her finally to finish their Halloween night off right.

* * *

 _ **A/N:I don't mean for this to sound beg-y or whiny, but I would really appreciate any reviews you have to give. I love interacting with those of you who have accounts on here and review so that I can reply back, and it's always a joy getting a guest review as well. I love hearing from you guys, and it really does help with the writing process. It helps to know that people are reading and still care about this story and that I've not fallen off people's radar. If I have, I'd love to know why you're not as interested in this story so that I can have a chance to improve and do better. Anything is welcome so long as it isn't a senseless flame for no reason other than to be a jerk.**_

 _ **I appreciate all of you reading my story, and I'll try to get back into uploading twice a week soon. Recently I haven't been feeling all that well due in part to a condition I have that's decided to flare up suddenly.**_

 _ **Thank you all so much for reading, and I hope to see you back for the next chapter!**_


	7. Hospital Scare

_**Protector**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of Life is Strange. Please excuse any spelling mistakes/errors. I try my best. I'm always open to ideas and comments, so if you have an idea of where you think the story should do shoot me a PM or write it in a review. It just might find its way into the story.**_

 _ **IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE: On chapter 6, I got a review from a user that brought up something that reminded me that I haven't mentioned this before. As this story covers heavier topics, and some that may be triggering to people, I want this story to be as accessible as possible to anyone who wishes to read it. As such, if there are any more times where I think that what Max is going through is going to be too much for some people, I will mark the area of the story to skip. I will also, if something plot related happens in that time, either write up an alternative part to replace that for those people to read or I will write up a summary of what happened, leaving out details.**_

 _ **I'm truly sorry for those that I've neglected in that regard due to this topic. If I could ask for a little help though, if there's anything you think that I need to mark as potentially an issue in earlier chapters, please either leave it in a review or PM me so that I can go back into earlier chapters and mark those spots as well if I miss them. Please and thank you!**_

 _ **Now, away from all this seriousness and into the story~! And again, thank you all from the bottom of my heart for reading, reviewing, and sticking with me. :)**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 7: Hospital Scare  
**_ _ **Monday November 4, 2013**_

Her eyes fluttered open and just as quickly squeezed shut as the white light blinds her. Trying to shield her eyes a bit, she felt a slight tug on her left arm. _What? Where am I? I fell asleep at Chloe's last night, but then what...?_ She asked herself, letting out a slight groan as her head started pounding and she began feeling an all too familiar ache through her entire body.

Opening her eyes, this time slowly so that they can adjust, she took a look around and it dawned on her that she was in a hospital room. Looking around she found a small, white clock on the wall that said it was noon. Slowly pushing herself up, she takes in the rest of the room and sees Chloe's jacket sitting on the small couch in the corner of the tiny room but no blue haired punk to be found.

She swung her legs around to the side of the bed and started to slowly and carefully shove herself off the side to a standing position, almost falling over at the sudden weight on her legs. Putting all of her weight to one side, she leaned on the bed for support and walked over and around to the end of it before the door opened to Chloe walking in on the phone.

"-I'm fine. I'll have to call you back," she said, smiling slightly when she saw Max up. "Max is up and I gotta talk to her." Seemingly without letting the other person reply, Chloe hung up and quickly crossed the room to hug Max. "Oh man, you scared the shit outta me, Max." She could hear and feel the shaking in Chloe's voice and it all slowly came to register with Max what had happened.

"I had a seizure, didn't I...?" Max asked, burying her face in Chloe's shoulder and taking in her familiar scent. There was a slight tinge of weed still hanging on the punk's clothes, but there was also oddly enough some kind of spearmint with just a small bit of potpourri smell from her house. It had a soothing effect on Max and really calmed her nerves. Her mind had spend up to normal speed and ran right past normal into overdirve.

"... That's what Mom said it was... Why do you have seizures? Nobody will tell me anything, and it really... It freaked me out. I've never seen that happen to someone before..." Chloe said slowly, hugging Max a little tighter before pulling away slightly to be let go of.

Max moved slowly back so she was sitting on the bed then looked at Chloe. "I'm sure you've noticed I'm not really "normal". I sometimes won't make eye contact with people when I'm talking to them, and I'm really kept to myself for the most part. I mess up when it comes to conversation and talking to people, and I can make really stupid assumptions or sarcasm flies over my head... I've gotten better with it over the years with counseling and stuff, but it was really evident when we were kids. Remember?"

"Yeah, but what's that got to do with anything? I mean, that's just who you are. It's your personality, isn't it?" Chloe asked, sitting next to her and taking Max's hand. Having Chloe there holding her hand and sitting next to her helped calm her racing mind just a little. Enough to continue.

"Sort of. In a way, I guess. But I'm not like everyone else. My brain has made different connections. I don't think like everyone else does... We found out the year before I met you that I was on the autism spectrum. I don't have autism itself, but I do have something called Asperger's Syndrome. And sometimes because of the different connections the brain makes, it can cause seizures... I thought I grew out of them... I haven't had one in three years... They started really bad after we moved to Seattle. I'd get them once a month. That's another reason that I ended up not calling or anything... I didn't know how to tell you... I couldn't figure it out... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry you had to see that, Che..." Max hugged her best friend tightly again.

"You don't need to apologize for that, Max. It isn't your fault that you have these seizures, and it isn't something you can control. Oh, and they said that you have that IV, because you were dehydrated a bit. So they had to get water in ya somehow," Chloe said with a small smile. She then got up and went over to a small tray on the other side of the bed that was attached to it and swung to rest over the person laying in the bed. "Here's your phone, by the way. My mom called your mom when all of this happened, so they're probably waiting to hear from you."

"They're gonna ask me what all happened even though they know I usually don't remember..." she trailed off, laying back on the bed. Her muscles still ached, especially after she'd tried walking, and she knew that she needed to rest them. It would be a few days before she was back up to anywhere near one hundred percent, and if memory served she would probably end up with random muscle twitches as well. Oh joy.

"Well I woke up before you did, which I thought was hella strange because all weekend you were waking **me** up, not the other way around. I let you sleep in a little before trying to wake you up, and when I finally got you up you really weren't all there I guess. You were insanely out of it. If I said something to you, it took you about a minute to even respond to it and it was usually asking me to repeat what I said. I went downstairs and told Mom what was going on, she didn't have to work till a little later, and she called David to tell him that you were having issues. Told him to tell the principal. She helped me get you downstairs, and she kept asking you simple questions. Like little things here and there about photography. Anything she could think of. You got a little more responsive, and it was about five minutes after getting you downstairs that it happened. Mom told me to keep you on the couch beforehand, so you ended up on your side on the couch. You... You were seizing really bad, and Mom was paying attention to the time and told me not to mess with you and just let it take its course..."

"Oh Chloe," Max said gently, rubbing her friend's arm. She knew she wasn't finished so sat quietly till Chloe was ready to talk again. It was obvious to her that Chloe needed to get this out to get passed it and get it out of her head.

"I just stood there... I couldn't stop looking at you, and it felt like time stood still and that it was forever, even though it was just a few minutes until you stopped... I hadn't even heard Mom call an ambulance until there were people coming into the house to take you out on a gurney and Mom was tugging on me to get me out of their way and to the car. I just kind of zoned out after that. I drove here in my truck. Mom had to go to work, so I was just waiting here. And I guess between when I left to take a call from Mom and getting back, you woke up."

"Well, I'm glad that I was at your house and not at the school. That would have been much worse, and everyone would be asking me questions and trying to butt into my life or making fun of me because of it. I'm sorry you had to see that, but thank you for convincing me to stay another night. I couldn't have asked for a better place to be. While I call my parents, can you find out from a doctor if they can come check me over and find out when they plan to release me?"

Chloe nodded and hugged Max, giving her a quick peck on the forehead before leaving the room. It was a little unusual for Chloe to have kissed her forehead like that, but if she was being honest she really hadn't minded at all. Dialing her dad's number was nerve wracking, because she didn't want to hear her uncle if he was talking in the background. Just the thought sent chills down her spine.

"Hello?" her dad's cheery voice answered. It was obvious even through the phone that he was smiling.

"Hey, Dad. How's everything going up there?" she asked, smiling to herself. Her dad just had a way about him that brightened your mood.

"Oh fine. Your mother missed you on Halloween, but we both hope you had a great time. We're talking about all coming down for Thanksgiving in a few weeks to celebrate with you. Your mom told me that you and Chloe met up again, so we were thinking about trying to get in contact with Joyce to see if we can't set something up. If not, then we'll come get you for the weekend and bring you back that Sunday. Your uncle said he was going to text you about it. Did he?" It was an innocent enough question, but it still sent her into a slight panic. He had texted and asked, along with 'can't wait to see you again little Maxie' the Friday after Halloween.

"Yeah, I got his message. I haven't gotten to ask Joyce, but I will next time I see her. I'll have her call you guys. But, I called because... I had a seizure this morning... I'm okay now, and thankfully I was at Chloe's and not at school, but I figured you guys should know about it. I remember the medicine I used to on for them, and I'll tell the doctor when he comes in about it. I'll probably have to stop procrastinating about going to the regular doctor around here as well. But please don't worry too much," she said, fidgeting with the sheets on the bed.

"Are you sure you're alright? Your mom and I can come down there if you need us to, sweetie," he said with a worry laced voice.

"I'm fine, Dad. I have Chloe and Joyce here for me, and they'll take care of me. I think I'm going to talk to Principal Wells about contacting Joyce if I start getting out of it or anything, that way I don't always get sent to the hospital. It doesn't always mean that I'm going to have a seizure when you think about it. But I'll call you guys later on to give you an update once I'm out of the hospital."

The two said their goodbyes as the doctor came in with Chloe. After answering a few questions and getting a script for her old seizure medicine, she was released to leave and the two girls made their way to Chloe's truck.

"So, what's this mean for you?" Chloe asked as she got in her beater of a car and started the engine.

Max followed suit and they left the hospital. "Means I'm not allowed to drive anymore and that I need to be careful of triggers. For me that's not getting enough sleep or good enough sleep and being really stressed out. And just a heads up, I might get random nosebleeds if I'm really stressed as well. I got those last time, and I'm not gonna rule them out from happening now as well since the seizures are back. We thought since I'd been seizure free for two years that I'd be alright and had grown out of them, so that's why I haven't been on seizure medication. I just hope that there aren't any more of them..."

"Don't worry, Maxaroni. You're not alone in this, and me and my mom will help in whatever way we can. Okay?" she said, briefly looking at the brunette and flashing her a butterflies in the stomach inducing smile. The doc said you needed your sleep, so I'll drop you off at Blackwell then head home. You go take a nap. Captain Chloe's orders."

Max chuckled and nodded. "Aye aye, Captain," she said with a small salute to the girl. It put them both into a small fit of laughter. Once they got to Blackwell, Chloe walked Max up to her room and gave her a quick hug before they waved goodbye and Max laid down to rest.

* * *

It was now later on in the evening, and Max was working on the homework that she'd missed that day while she was in the hospital. She'd taken a good two or three hour nap earlier, so she was still wide awake now, even though it was ten at night. Getting finished, she put everything she was working on away and changed into her Pjs before getting into bed. It wasn't long after that, though, that she heard a light beating noise at the bottom of her door. Writing it off, she rolled over and ignored it. But then it happened again, this time a little bit louder.

Tossing the blanket off of herself and getting out of bed, she went to the door and opened it to look around. She was greeted to Chloe laying on the ground in front of her door looking incredibly intoxicated and a little beaten up.

"Chloe!" she yelled in a whisper, getting down and helping the girl up and into her room to sit on the bed.

"I'm so sorry, Max... So sorry..." she mumbled with an obvious slur to her voice, collapsing sideways onto the bed. "I'm such a fuck up... Worthless, piece of trash, fuck up..."

Max crouched in front of her and looked her in the eyes. "You're not a worthless fuck up, and you're definitely not trash. You understand? You're amazing, and the best friend I've ever had."

"Try telling that to Rachel..." Chloe mumbled, closing her eyes. "Stupid bitch... Stupid stupid bitch..." Max's blood boiled red hot after Chloe said Rachel's name. The way Chloe looked was all her fault, and she was going to get to the bottom of it.

Standing up, she tossed a blanket over Chloe and carefully got her beanie and jacket off of her, seeing that Chloe was already passed out. She grabbed an extra pillow and blanket and got her couch set up for her to sleep on as her bed wasn't as big as Chloe's then she took off out of her room and to Rachel's, knocking hard enough that she would be heard but soft enough that she wouldn't wake anyone else.

Rachel answered slowly and Max couldn't hold back as she slapped her across the face. "You've done **enough** to Chloe. Leave her the hell alone, Rachel. I get it, you wanted to keep her around as well and maybe deep down somewhere you do care for Chloe, but causing her more problems than she already has is just horrible. If you even care at all about her, leave her alone. She doesn't need or want you anymore."

Rachel glared at her as she held her cheek, probably still stinging from the slap. "Yeah, I do still care. I'm going to defend myself if I'm being trash talked. Anybody would. You don't even know what happened between us, and it's pretty obvious that you don't care. All you care about is Chloe, and honestly I thought better of you. We used to be friends before Chloe got in the way of that. You didn't even really listen to my side of things-"

"Because cheating on someone that you claimed to love is wrong, Rachel!" she whisper-yelled, glaring right back. "Why would I listen to some bullshit excuse for cheating?"

"Sometimes there's more to it than what meets the eye. This time, I was just trying to talk calmly to Chloe, and she went off on me. I can't help what she did afterward," Rachel explained, going to shut the door.

"Oh yeah, because you totally looked like you'd been hit multiple times when you answered the door. Sure. Just leave Chloe alone, and don't you **ever** talk to me again, Rachel," Max said, grabbing the doorknob and shutting the door herself, almost getting Rachel's finger in the process. She didn't care if she had anyway. It would've been payback for Chloe's injuries.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Chloe's next chapter will give more insight on what happened. :) And there will be fluff as this chapter has been pretty heavy.**_

 _ **Also, JK Tolkien, as you're a guest reviewer, I'm going to start replying to you here. :) So, last chapter I intend at some point to re-work a bit. I wanted to get something out and I hadn't been feeling well, so I tried my best. It's not bad, but it definitely isn't as good as the other chapters. Hopefully I'll have time to redo it soon. Also, as it stands right now, Kate is visiting family for a short time. :) I'd wanted to keep last chapter a bit lighter, especially because of the events for this chapter that I had planned. A nice light chapter before the hurricane that was this one. XD**_

 _ **On a side note, Max's experience with Asperger's (**_ _ **ˈäs-ˌpər-gərz-**_ _ **) is something that I have personal experience with. My younger brother was diagnosed with it and has seizures. So I'm basing it off what I know from him having seizures to asking him how he feels around those times. It's actually hinted at in the game that Max has developmental disability or something of the sort, because in her school records it says she has an IEP (individualized education program).**_

 _ **Anyway, long author's note over. Please don't forget to review and let me know what ya think! I would love to hear from all of you!**_

 _ **~MoonlitxAngel**_


	8. Chloe Bomb

_**Protector**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of Life is Strange. Please excuse any spelling mistakes/errors. I try my best. I'm always open to ideas and comments, so if you have an idea of where you think the story should do shoot me a PM or write it in a review. It just might find its way into the story.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Chloe Bomb  
** _ **Tuesday November 5, 2013**_

Immediate regret washed over her as she opened her eyes to the sunlight shining in the window and felt the remnants of all the drinking she'd done the night before come over her. She sat up to stretched and almost as soon as she did, she laid back down to let her head catch up with the rest of her body before trying again. This time being successful, she took a look around and it registered that she wasn't at home and that she was laying in Max's bed.

She let out a yawn and suddenly everything that happened the night before slammed into her in bits and pieces, all broken up. Rachel seeing her as she left Max's dorm and convincing Chloe to talk. Talking then lead to arguing and Rachel slammed her with everything that was wrong with her. Rachel had been compelled to cheat because she was too needy. Too clingy. Too loving. Couldn't stay on one topic. She slammed her and blamed her for everything and then just kicked her out once she was done tearing into her. Instead of bothering Max, Chloe left and went to the junkyard. Her safe haven. Home away from home.

If only to add onto everything else, Frank showed up at the junkyard and was pissed at **her** for Rachel cheating on them both. Details in all of it were fuzzy at best, and she knew that Rachel had said more than what she remembered, but she just couldn't recall any of it. To her mental health, Rachel was like a parasite, sucking away her happiness until there wasn't anything left. She made Chloe think of those people who thought extremely highly of themselves and figured that if they couldn't have the person, they'd make sure no one else did.

Pain split through her head again, and she slow got up to look around for Tylenol or something that might kill it. Sometimes pain meds worked for her hangovers and others they didn't. She was careful not to wake Max, because she already knew she'd put the brunette through enough. Last night must've been bad for her to be here in Max's room. Guilt seeped into her thoughts as well now. Max had only just had a seizure because of stress or not getting enough sleep and now she went and did this. Finding a small travel sized bottle of Tylenol, she took a couple and dry swallowed them because she didn't want to go out there and get water.

"No... Stop..." Max groaned quietly in her sleep, making Chloe look over and watch her best friend, the pain on her face unbearable. Usually she wouldn't be against watching Max sleep, but she was having a nightmare and looked anything but peaceful. "Get away... from me..." she mumbled as Chloe watched her roll a little more into the couch. Going to Max's side she shook her shoulder a little to try and wake her as gently as she could.

First time didn't work, but the second time Chloe shook her, Max startled awake and sat up. "Hey, SuperMax. You were having a nightmare, so I woke you up. You okay?"

When Max nodded, Chloe could tell she was lying. She wanted to push it, but she quelled that impulse and sat on the bed. "I'm sorry about last night. That was just, ridiculous of me. Especially after everything you went through. It was selfish and stupid. I just... Rachel and Frank. I didn't want to bother you with it."

"Stop. It wouldn't have been a bother, Che. I want you to feel comfortable talking to me about stuff. I don't want things to change between us and I don't want to be coddled. I got enough of that when I first started having seizures and from my parents. Being able to help you in whatever way that I can really does honestly help me. And heck, you would have been proud of me last night if you'd be conscious," Max said, coming over and sitting next to her with a slightly smug smile. "Just guess what I did."

"But Maaaaaaaax," she whined, smiling over at the brunette and tackling her in a hug. "I hate guessing games, and I majorly suck at them. You should just tell me so that I can go about my day like normal instead of having to come up with guesses."

Max chuckled and just that slightly brought the pain down. As long as Max was happy, she could ignore any pain. Even if her best friend never loved her like she did, she could be content in the fact that she was there and protecting Max. Max needed protecting. Especially now with the seizures and nightmares.

"Okay, fine, Chloe. **Ruin** my game. So you told me last night before you passed out that Rachel was the cause of all that. I marched over to her room and told her off. But the part you'll be most proud of is that I slapped that bitch in the face," Max grinned, nudging into Chloe. "Now you can't say I never did anything for ya."

"You cussed just now, **and** you slapped Rachel in the face last night? You are hella boss right now, Caulfield! Chloe Price is rubbing off on your scrawny ass!" she smiled, raising her arms up in the air in victory.

That made Max burst out in a fit of giggles which then caused Chloe to smile and laugh a little. The two stayed joking, smiling, and laughing for a good ten minutes before Max stood up and started getting ready for her day.

"So listen, I need you to either make sure you guys have the stuff at your house or go and get stuff to make cookies, because you and I are taking over Joyce's kitchen once I get outta class. We're gonna make some of our old cookie recipes, and you're gonna like it," Max said with a grin. "No objections."

"Oh so now you're trying to take on the role of Captain, are you?" Chloe smiled a little, her headache all but forgotten in the jokes and laughing.

"I'm honorary Captain for a day, because you owe me," she grinned. "Now go and meet me in the parking lot after classes are over, okay?"

"You got it, SuperMax," Chloe said with a quick salute and headed for her truck. It was just her luck that when she left Max's room, Rachel was leaving hers as well. Chloe tried to keep her focus on the doors out and to the parking lot, but she was stop and inwardly cursed to herself.

"Chloe, I-" she started, trying to stop Chloe in her tracks by putting a hand on her arm. Chloe could hear something in Rachel's voice, and she wasn't sure what it was but she wasn't too keen on finding out either. After all the words thrown the night before, Chloe wanted nothing to do with Rachel. Especially not so soon after everything.

Chloe smacked her hand away and turned a glare onto Rachel. "Don't **ever** touch me again, Rachel. You've done enough damage as is, and that's all you keep doing. Tell Frank that he can go fuck himself, because I didn't even know you were a cheating piece of shit. But you know what? You deserve a worthless druggie like Frank. You'll get nowhere in life with someone like him, and one day you'll be wishing that you'd not hurt me. I don't know when, but one day I'm gonna show your ass up. And you'll still be stuck here in Arcadia Bay with a drug problem. So fuck off before I **really** go off on your ass." She continued walking away but Rachel followed and got in front of her.

"Chloe, would you please just listen?" Rachel asked, exasperatedly. Instead of listening, Chloe tried to get passed her but each time she moved Rachel would mirror it making it impossible. And that's when Chloe snapped.

She shoved Rachel into her room and followed, shutting the door behind her and glaring. "Listen, I want absolutely **nothing** to do with you! I don't like you anymore, and I certainly don't want to be friends! Don't even **think** about telling me that you cared, because you didn't! You've proven to me that you don't! So far, only Max has really proven to me that she even gives a shit! And because of you I question it! So just stop! You've lost, Rachel! I'm not going to buy into any of your bullshit lies and manipulating! The only reason you even see me is because I come here to see Max! Go fuck one of your fuckbuddies and **deal with it**! I'm **done** being used by the likes of you! Haven't you done enough damage?!"

Chloe growled and punched the wall near the door and glared back at Rachel. "Stop trying to fix things, because you **never** will. Especially after last night." And with that, she left the room, slamming the door as hard as she could and not caring about who heard. She high tailed it out of there, because she didn't want to be stopped by anyone and she most certainly didn't want David to see her there. Not with how uncontrollable her anger was at that present moment. She got into her truck and started it, taking in a few deep breaths and letting them out, her anger subsiding with each exhale. Rage hadn't bubbled in her like that for a long time and it scared even her a little.

 _You've just gotta ignore Rachel's existence, Chloe._ She told herself as she started her truck and started driving around with no destination. _You've gotta stop letting her affect you like that, dumbass. Knowing her, she probably gets a kick out of it. Pretty obvious the bitch enjoys bringing pain to others._ When her phone vibrated to life, she ignored it and nearly tossed it onto the passenger's side to lessen the sound. In the back of her mind, she knew it was Max. But right now she didn't need it to be Rachel or David. Rachel just served to piss her off, because her feelings for Rachel contradicted themselves. She wanted to wring the girl's neck and other times she just wanted to be held by her and told everything would be alright. That they'd work through it. But Chloe knew she couldn't let that happen, because Rachel would just use her again.

It had taken time, but Chloe had learned through everything that Rachel was like a leech. She only loved you as much as she needed you, and she didn't really need Chloe. She only had her because she could. The poor little charity case who was rebellious and had a shitty home life. Rachel had wormed her way in when Chloe had been the most vulnerable, and it just served to make her anger bubble again, so she ignored it and pushed the thoughts down as best as she could. Rolling down the window, she let the cool November air run across her face, helping her to calm down along with the still deep breathing.

Everything she'd done for two years had revolved around Rachel, so she understood why she still held feelings for the girl, but she didn't understand why Rachel was so adamant about getting her back. It didn't make sense, and Chloe wasn't at a place where she could delve into that with the brunette. She wasn't ready for that conversation and with how Rachel was **still** trying her hardest to get her back, she knew Rachel wasn't ready either. They both needed the closure, but neither was ready for it and therein lied the problem.

Chloe spent a little time that morning just driving around and thinking about everything. What to do about Rachel and if she wanted to delve into the things that Max said she wasn't ready to talk about. Then she started thinking about her life and what she wanted to do with it. An idea popped into her head at that and she quickly turned to the store, grabbed what she knew they'd need for that afternoon, then drove home. She went up to her room and pulled out an old sketchbook and colored pencils and began to draw seriously for the first time in ages, ignoring the outside world.

She did multiple rough sketches trying to get what she wanted as perfect as she could muster and then checked the clock to see that it was almost time to pick up Max. She closed and hid the sketchbook and quickly found her stash of cash and counted it, making sure she'd have enough for what she was planning. It was going to be something special that both her and Max needed. It would just mean kidnapping a Max for the weekend and she was sure that her best friend wouldn't mind.

Picking up her phone and seeing three messages from Max, one asking what all the yelling was about and two asking if she was okay, she texted back that she was fine and was on her way now to get her. She then went downstairs and quickly got out what they'd need for their baking and headed out the door.

Max was there waiting for her as soon as she got to Blackwell and got into the car quickly so that the two could leave. "So what happened earlier? And why didn't you answer my messages?"

"I just got busy is all, Max," she shrugged. "I was working on a surprise for this weekend. Don't ask either, because I'm not gonna tell you." A small smirk laid on her lips. It felt good to be back with Max, even though they'd only been separated for less than twenty-four hours. She just had that affect on her now. Lifting her spirits up. Max was the reason she'd gotten the inspiration to draw earlier, and she hadn't realized how much she missed it until she'd started. Max was her muse, her inspiration, and she was quickly becoming everything to Chloe. And that was terrifying for her. Terrifying, because everyone always leaves.

"Oh c'mon, you could give me a hint," she smiled, poking Chloe in the side. "C'mon, Che. Pretty pleeeease?" Max flashed the pouty lip, but Chloe was determined and just chuckled.

"You'll have to do better than that, Maxaroon." The car ride to her house was quick and consisted of cracking jokes and Max trying whatever she could to get Chloe to laugh. She'd never laughed that much in a long time...

Getting home and pulling in, Chloe hopped out of the car and headed inside to the kitchen to wait for Max. "You're such a slow poke!" she said, as she heard the door shut behind the brunette and smiled brightly as she came in through the doorway. "So, taskmaster Max, what're we putting together today?"

"Captain Chloe and SuperMax's Famous Chocolate Chunk Cookies," Max said, pulling out a recipe card from the bag at her side.

Nostalgia burst into Chloe as she remembered when her mom had helped them come up with their ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe. After Max moved away, Chloe had lost her copy of the recipe and the fact that Max still had hers really touched her. "You're such a dork, Max! You actually kept that recipe? Holy damn. I haven't seen this recipe in years."

Max smiled and nodded it, handing the notecard to Chloe to look it over. All of her little doodles that she'd drawn on it were still there, albeit a little faded and the paper a little yellowed with age, but it was theirs.

"Hella rad boss ass bitch. That's your new name," she said, getting everything that they would need lined up on the counter. "But you get to do all the measuring and stuff because you know that I would just add more than we needed and cause a mess."

"Yeah, can't ever trust you to measure right," Max chuckled. "I remember one of the last times you and I cooked together."

"Flour! Flour everywhere!" Chloe laughed, throwing her hands up in the air. "And because it was summer we were all sweaty and we were covered in gunky, icky flour. And your mom said you couldn't come home till you were clean so we tried to stay like that for as long as we could because you didn't wanna go home."

"I remember that! We even put more flour on ourselves, but your mom told us that we had to get cleaned up and I had to leave or else that weekend we couldn't have our sleepover."

Chloe laughed hard and nodded. "I don't think I've ever seen you run so fast for the bathroom. But I still beat you there."

"Yeah, then you took **forever** to get out," Max chuckled, nudging her best friend with a smile. "Now, get out a baking sheet and the parchment paper so they won't stick."

Chloe did as she was told and afterwards snuck over to the bag of flour and tossed some in the air, raining white, powdery flour all over both girls and the counter. "Boom!" She yelled, going over to the bowl Max was using to hold the flour till she needed it. She took in a deep breath and before Max could stop her she blew into the flour, causing a cloud of flour to puff into Max's face. "Chloe bomb!"

"Chloooooeeeee!" Max giggled, wiping the flour from her face so that she could see and quickly hugging her punk best friend. "Got you, too!"

"Excpe the Chloe bomb got the counters and the bowl and everything!" Chloe chuckled. "Except the baking sheet. That has been exempt from the storm here." Chloe took a small bite of flour and wiped it onto Max's nose. "Perfect."

Max smiled impishly as the microwave went off and the war began. Butter, flour, chocolate, and anything else that they could find was launched at the other, causing it to look like a tornado of cookie ingredients had blown through the house, leaving nothing on that side of the kitchen clean and both girls laughing till their ribs hurt.

"Oh, oh man!" Chloe laughed, clutching at her sides. "I haven't had this much fun in a long ass time, SuperMax."

Chloe looked over and noticed that Max was just staring at her with a goofy grin on her face. She was expecting some witty comeback. What she most definitely wasn't expecting was the kiss. Max moved toward her quickly and kissed her deeply, Chloe kissing Max back after awkwardly just standing there for a split second.

The almost electric-like feeling that surged through her and the slight heat that rose to her face from the kiss was welcome. She loved Max and it excited but scared her to think that Max loved her back. When they parted, Max put her forehead to Chloe's and smiled. "I think I might have feelings for you, too, Che..."

* * *

 _ **A/N: And that's a wrap! I'm not too horribly good at romance stuff so anything you guys have to say about that piece of it, let me know. :)**_

 _ **Please don't forget to review, I love to hear from all of you! Any constructive criticism is welcome as well. Stay tuned for the next chapter!**_


	9. First Date

_**Protector**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of Life is Strange. Please excuse any spelling mistakes/errors. I try my best. I'm always open to ideas and comments, so if you have an idea of where you think the story should do shoot me a PM or write it in a review. It just might find its way into the story.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 9: First Date  
** _ **Friday November 8, 2013**_

The week had passed by quickly, between spending time with her friends and hanging out with Chloe. Kate was going to be back on Sunday, and Dana, Juliet, Warren, and Rachel had been planning a welcome back party for her. Just something small with her close friends to show their support for her in the difficult time she was having. The police still hadn't found anything and doubted that they would, so they recommended counselors to the Marsh's and promised to keep looking as much as they could. It had been devastating news for Kate and her family, but Kate was pulling through and was ready to return to school.

Max held strong for Kate's sake when she was around Rachel, and Rachel still awkwardly tried to make polite conversation. Max shot it down every time with a slight glare. She knew that Dana, Juliet, and Warren saw, but they never asked what was going on and she didn't supply a reason either. Over the past almost month, she'd been getting a bit more distant with all of them to focus more time on Chloe, and she hated that a bit. She didn't want to lose any of them as friends, and she was going to use this party on Sunday to get close to them again. Spend some time just with them for a bit and celebrate Kate coming back to school after being away.

It made her happy to think of Kate overcoming what had happened to her, and she hoped that one day she'd get to that point as well. She didn't see it happening any time soon, though, because she still hadn't gotten to a point where she could actually tell anybody. It was between Chloe and Kate for the first people to tell. On one hand, Kate would understand everything she's feeling and might be able to help her to function better. She still has times, even with Warren, where she tenses up when they get close. Time spent at Chloe's consists mostly of avoiding David as much as she can without making it obvious that she's avoiding him, because he scares her. It's not so much that he's a scary person as it is that he, in a way, reminds her of her uncle. She knows Chloe has noticed and hasn't asked to respect her privacy, and that's her reason for wanting to tell Chloe first. That and they're basically dating now since Chloe Bomb Tuesday.

The ringing of her phone dragged her out of her thoughts, and she quickly fumbled around for it and answered. "Hello?"

"Where are you at?" Chloe asked, with a playfully annoyed tone. "I've been waiting at the front of the school for the past... ten minutes now. You're making us hella late."

"Oh, I'm so incredibly sorry," Max joked with a chuckle. "I just got lost in thought. I'll be down in a minute, okay?"

"If you're too much later I won't let you buy me brownies," Chloe said with a chuckle. "But no worries. Just try not to take too much longer, I really don't want to see you know who."

"Voldemort is in Arcadia Bay?!" Max asked with mock-fear in her voice as she left her room and headed for the doors.

"Hardy har har, nerd. You know the you know who that I meant," Chloe laughed, making Max smile, too. It was become more and more common for Chloe to laugh for real anymore, and it made Max happy to know that she was the reason.

"At least you don't see her every day and have to work on things with her like I do," Max said back with a little bit of disgust. "Uck. We're doing a little party for Kate on Sunday since she's coming back, and Rachel and Kate kinda got along, so it's been hell lately since I've had to work near Rachel to set the party up."

"Why not just tell your other friends you don't wanna be near Rachel and give a reason?"

"Chloe, I need to be there for Kate, y'know? She's my friend, too. Plus, I really don't want to start any unnecessary drama in the dorms between Rachel and others. Sure she was horrible and cruel to you, but involving others in it isn't going to solve anything and it sure won't do anything good either. I still have to live here."

"Ooooor," Chloe said as she got to the truck and they both hung up the phones. "You could move in with me. We always talked about it growing up anyway. And I'm sure my mom would absolutely love having you there. She'd have the punk princess daughter and then she'd have the daughter she always wanted me to be."

That got a chuckle and a smile out of Max, but she shook her head. "Our relationship is already on steroids, Che. We do not need to go turbo." It brought a smile to her face, though, to hear Chloe talking about moving in and going forward with their relationship. Now just wasn't the right time though. She was still working out how and when to tell Chloe what had happened to her. Thinking about what happened was getting a small bit easier, not to the extent that she could think about it for long periods of time, but it was to a point where it didn't make her recoil in fear or cause her to burst into tears and have to take a minute to calm down.

"So, today is a bit of a surprise, and part of it I want you to be openminded about, okay? Just keep that in mind. It's nothing bad, but it was going to be a bit surprising for you. Well okay, maybe not surprising but it'll be different. But there's nothing wrong with different, and I think it'll be beautiful and-"

"You're rambling," Max chuckled with a small smile. "I'm sure that whatever it is I'm going to be okay with it. I trust you, Che."

It didn't take them much longer after that to reach the small restaurant that they were going to. It was a small, family-owned restaurant that even amidst the Prescott take over had managed to stay afloat. The place is called Ma's Diner and Bakery. Run by an older woman, her eldest daughter, and her son-in-law it's a quaint little place that just kinda has that homey air about it.

"So we're having brunch first, and then we have to head for my other surprise," Chloe said with a smile, pulling into a parking space and getting out of the car then rushing over to get the door for Max.

Getting out, Max gave Chloe a quick peck on the lips and smiled. "You're being very sweet today, and now I'm a little worried you're gonna throw some bad news at me."

"Nah, just trying to impress you as part of my job description," Chloe beamed. Surprisingly enough things went rather smoothly, with Chloe pulling out chairs and opening doors for Max as they got to a table and sat together. It didn't take long either for their orders to be taken.

"So what else do you have in store for us?" Max asked, after they had their orders taken and got their drinks. It brought back memories of times spent together when they were kids being in the restaurant. This was a favorite place for the two families to have dinner together and catch up some Saturdays. Everyone in town knew Ma and she insisted everyone call her Ma. The old woman was getting there in years, but she still brought a lot of joy to the residence and to struggling families. It had become a ritual for the restaurant to donate what food they could to the food pantry in town every other week. Some kids to graduate from the local high school had to volunteer there.

"Well, there's this. Then my surprise, which I won't force you to participate in, but I really hope you do. And then after that I wanna take you somewhere special. After that, I'm kidnapping you for the night and you're gonna stay at my house," Chloe smiled. She seemed really proud of the idea which made Max happy as well. Chloe had put a lot of thought and effort into the day, and that wasn't lost on Max. It really made her feel special and realize how special they both were to one another.

Once their food arrived, they ate pretty quickly without saying anything to one another because they were too busy savoring their brunch. It didn't take long for either girl to demolish their food and Chloe smiled when they did. "I won!"

"I didn't know it was a race!" Max chuckled, smiling at Chloe. "But I guess you do since you got done first."

"And now you owe me not only those brownies for being late, but you owe me cake, too!" Chloe said, hands in the air and smiling. "But it's cool if you can't. This **is** me taking you on a date."

"I'll get you cake and brownies here soon. I don't have money on me right now, though. So none at the moment," Max smiled, patting her stomach. "Plus, aren't you full? Or are you still a bottomless pit like you used to be growing up?"

"Still a bottomless pit, Maxaroni," she chuckled. "Mom says that I'll end up getting fat when I'm older, because I'll be so used to eating whatever I want. But I don't care. So long as I still got my sexy body now I'm good. 'Snot like I eat junk food all the time, anyway."

When the waitress came back around, Chloe paid for their meal and they got up and left, continuing their conversation into the car and driving off. Max really couldn't figure out what it was that Chloe would surprise her with. _Something I might not want... Drugs? Alcohol? No... Chloe wouldn't do that. Plus it was something she had to buy. Shopping spree? Again, no. I couldn't see her getting excited about clothes shopping, and it's something I'm none too excited about either. Hmmm..._ Max sat in quiet contemplation with the music in Chloe's truck blaring but surprisingly ignorable.

"Okay, so like I said. Keep an open mind. I don't know how you feel about tattoos, how I feel is pretty obvious, but I thought it would be kinda sweet and memorable if we got tattoos together. Nothing fancy or initialed or anything. Just something to kinda commemorate our friendship and now relationship. No pressure," Chloe said, grabbing her sketchbook from behind the seats and flipping to a page then handing it to Max. "That's what I was thinking of. I drew it the other day before our food fight."

Max took the sketchbook from Chloe and turned it so it was facing the right way, looking the picture over. The picture was a little bit smaller than the size of her palm and was a depiction of a deer with a blue butterfly, bigger than it would be in real life, covering the hind end of the deer. The blue of the butterfly contrasted really well with the light brown of the deer, and the sizes of the two creatures didn't out do each other. It was a perfect balance. The drawing itself was gorgeous as well.

"Wowsers, Che... You drew this?" Max asked, looking over with a smile and getting a nod from Chloe.

"Yeah, it's been awhile since I drew, so I spent a lot of the day on it. But I wanted something unique and that really encompassed us, so I figured that would do. You **do** love that shirt of yours with a deer on it. And I love butterflies. My hair is blue, so there ya go. Whatcha think about the tattoo part of it?" The nervousness in Chloe's voice was evident, and Max thought it was cute. Chloe had obviously worked really hard to make the tattoo for them, and she loved the idea of it.

The thought of getting a tattoo, and the pain of it, was a little daunting. But she loved Chloe and the idea of the tattoo. Even if they didn't stay together or drifted apart, which would happen over her dead body, it was still something that she wanted. Max kissed her girlfriend's cheek and nodded. "I'll get the tattoo with you. But where should we get it? I don't want anywhere too painful..."

"It really all depends on you and your pain tolerance. My sleeve took awhile, and it hurt in some places, but nothing too bad. So you could get yours on your outer shoulder, and I could get mine on the back of my shoulder. Or we could both get it there. It won't take too long, because it's smaller. An hour or two. Three tops. They have music playing and the artist who's doing it keeps conversation going with you usually. I trust this place. I got my tattoo here. I mean, I had to do a bit of work here for it so that I could pay for it, but doing that was **so** worth this tattoo. I was actually thinking about asking the boss if I could work here again. Maybe work toward getting my GED and then going to school to be a tattoo artist. That or move to another state where I won't **have** to go to school for it. I'll have to look more into it."

Hearing Chloe talk about going to school for something and working really did bring Max a lot of joy and pride. This Chloe isn't the same girl she met a month ago. The Chloe she met then wouldn't have even been thinking about working or anything like that. "Well, first things first is getting that GED, Che. Then you can worry about everything else," Max said hopping out of the car. "Now let's do this."

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

A few hours later both girls were leaving the tattoo shop with their shoulders covered with gauze and getting into the car. She'd gotten a little uncomfortable at times, but Max had made it through alright. Seeing Chloe just chatting away with the artist working on her had made it easier to deal with the pain and to focus on talking as well.

"You actually did a lot better than I expected, Super Max," Chloe said after they'd gotten settled in the car and she pulled out. "Just be careful not to lay on it, and take care of it like they said. You'll do fine. Bet Mom and your parents are gonna **freak**. I'm such a terrible influence, aren't I?"

Max knew she was joking and decided to play along. "Oh yeah. Totally a bad influence. Next thing I know you'll be getting me to smoke weed with you, drink, and dye my hair red or some other crazy color."

"Red is **not** a crazy color," Chloe laughed. "There are plenty of people with red hair. Now **purple** maybe. Purple hair would look good on you. Maybe just a streak of purple near the front. Grown those bangs out."

"I think my parents would not only have a cow but a whole farm if I dyed even a little of my hair red," Max chuckled, watching out her window. "I mean, they're already gonna have the news of us dating plus the whole tattoo thing. One heart attack at a time, Che. One heart attack at a time. But I do agree about the bangs. I'm gonna grow my hair out again, I think. Like how it was when we were kids. Remember?"

"Long and in a ponytail, always," Chloe said with a smile. "You wouldn't put your hair down for anything. It was always up in that nice little ponytail. Good for yanking." For emphasis Chloe tugged on a small bit of Max's hair. "You'll look absolutely gorgeous either way, kiddo."

"Kiddo? Seriously, Che?" Max chuckled, nudging into Chloe. "I'm an adult now, missy."

"I'm also a year older than you, so meh," Chloe said, sticking her tongue out at Max. "So you are a kiddo to me. So there."

"Yeah yeah. But I'd like to think that I'm the older one and you just decided to get conceived too early."

Chloe laughed and playfully smacked Max's arm. "Oh yeah, I totally decided before I was even born that 'man, I'm gonna be born before that Max Caulfield so I can be older'."

"That's exactly how it went." Both girls burst out laughing as Chloe pulled up to a forest area. "Now, I'll bet you don't even remember where we are."

Max took a look around and a sense of nostalgia filled her. Time spent as children playing in their tree fort out here, having to be dragged back home because they didn't want to leave yet. Stories told and summer sleepovers with Joyce and William or her parents camping underneath them. "It's where our ship is."

"Damn, girl. And here I thought you'd have forgotten. But we **did** spend a lot of time up there," Chloe chuckled as she got out of the car, followed by Max. "I figure we can just climb up there and just watch the sunset for a bit."

"That sounds great, Chloe. After today, it'll be a nice breath of fresh air, and the perfect end to the date," Max smiled, taking Chloe's hand in hers and walking toward their old tree fort. It really had been the perfect day and the perfect date.

* * *

 _ **A/N: I'd meant to get this out on Wednesday, but then Stardew Valley happened and weeeeell I'm a teeny tiny bit addicted. Just a little. Lolz I've played 23 hours so far. If you like games like Harvest Moon, you'd love it. Created by only one guy, too. Which is kinda amazing. But anyway, hope you guys enjoyed!**_

 _ **Please don't forget to leave a review. I love hearing from you guys and any constructive criticism is welcome. :) Also, I'd love to hear your thoughts on what you think Rachel might be up to with everything she's been doing and how you think things will go once Thanksgiving hits. :) Seeya in the chapter!**_


	10. Episode

_**Protector**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of Life is Strange. Please excuse any spelling mistakes/errors. I try my best. I'm always open to ideas and comments, so if you have an idea of where you think the story should do shoot me a PM or write it in a review. It just might find its way into the story.**_

 _ **SELF-HARM TRIGGER WARNING** **(fairly slight, but it's still there. If anyone needs an alternate scene, let me know and I'll write one up.)**_

 _ **A/N: I don't know whether what happens in the chapter could be triggering or not, so I'm putting the trigger warning just in case. I'd rather be safe than sorry. As I've never really struggled with self-harm personally, I want to be as respectful as possible to everyone who has.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Episode  
** _ **Monday November 11, 2013**_

An overwhelming feeling of abandonment clawed its way at her insides, tearing apart every defense she had against it. She trusted Max, but why hadn't she called or texted or **something** since Saturday afternoon? _She's leaving you, like everyone else... Everybody lies and everybody leaves, there's no exceptions to that... Not even for Max..._ All morning she'd been tossing the idea back and forth in her head that maybe it was just that she was busy that day or that she was spending time with other people, but it still gnawed at her that Max was planning to leave. It wasn't an easy thing to admit, either.

She rolled over and looked at her phone again, checking to see no messages still. Maybe she'd been replaced. Max had mentioned that Kate was going to be back that Sunday, and she'd not talked to her since then. "Guess that explains it... Kate's the best friend whose place I was holding." She unlocked her phone and wrote out a quick message, sending it then getting dressed and heading out the window, leaving her phone there on the bed.

 **Chloe 11/11/13 4:03 pm  
** _I get it. I really do. Everybody always leaves, and I should have known that you'd be the same. I just never expected you'd ghost on me like this. But whatever. Fuck you and fuck everything. My life is a fuckin joke._

Getting into her truck, she took off quickly. David would be home soon, and there was no way that she was going to run into him. He'd just try to stop her from leaving and it'd end up in a fight which would lead to getting hurt. She wasn't in the mood. Everything could set her off today, and she knew it. A small, tiny little thing could get blown out of proportion all because of missing some stupid medication that she wished she didn't need to be on. Because she thought she was getting better, she had stopped taking her meds and that lead to feeling like this. Two different types of medication just to keep her mood in check. "Meds your stupid self will probably be on for the rest of your fucking life..."

Pulling in at American Rust, she cursed under her breath. Rachel was sitting there and their used-to-be hideout smoking. "Of fucking course. If this day couldn't get any worse, she has to be here. As if the universe didn't hate me enough." Chloe got out of her truck and quickly walked past Rachel, ignoring her presence all together and heading to the little fire pit hidden away near the train tracks. It was out of sight of anyone, and she could be alone. Would have been perfect had Rachel not seen her heading that way and followed her.

"Chloe," she said gently, picking up her pace and getting next to her. "Can we talk?"

Surprisingly it wasn't rage that built up in her with Rachel near. It was longing. She tried to quell it and glared at her. "You can talk, but I can't promise I'll listen."

They both sat down and Rachel pulled her knees to her chest, hugging them after snuffing her joint. "I know I fucked up big time when we fought. I shouldn't have said the things that I did to you, and I'm sorry. I know being high isn't an excuse, but I've got a lot going on right now, too. And you never let me explain or tell you how sorry I was for everything with Frank." She paused for a second and sighed then pressed on. "I don't love Frank, and I'm not with him for a relationship. I'm with him for drugs and that's it. I tried to tell you... But I wasn't sure how to do it, and I was afraid of how you'd react... I'm so not a good person, Chloe... I'm using Frank, Jefferson is holding something over my head as blackmail, my parents are fighting... Now you and Max aren't talking to me..."

Chloe watched as Rachel took a shaking breath and took out two joints, offering her one and lighting both. "You should've fucking told me, Rachel. I told you **everything** about my life, and you should've known that keeping it secret was way worse than telling me about it. I can understand using that asshole for drugs because he charges way to much, but what did you think would happen? There's no way you could've kept that secret forever, Rach."

"I was planning on telling you... That night when we went out for dinner... I was going to tell you, but then Frank showed up and ruined it... I wasn't expecting him to go there to get food since he always goes to the Two Whales. Then you and Max wouldn't let me explain... I took my anger and pain out on you, and I'm sorry. … Max told Kate that you two were together yesterday at her welcome back party... I'm happy for you."

Chloe scoffed and shook her head. "Fuck Max," she said, drawing her knees to her chest to mimic Rachel's position and resting her chin on her knees. "Haven't heard a word from her all day, and she barely said anything yesterday either. She's leaving like everyone else, and I've decided I don't fucking need anybody. I'm hella done with people. I try to have people close to me, but all they do is leave or lie and I'm sick of it. So done." She flopped backwards onto the dirt, taking a drag of her joint and blowing the smoke upwards in circles. "All Chloe Price needs is herself."

"Chloe... She isn't leaving you. She spent yesterday non-stop talking about you and how much she missed you. Today in class, she didn't look too good. She was really pale and looked nervous and jumpy. Kate tried to ask her what was wrong, but she didn't answer and just said she had to get back to her dorm. I think you should go check on her..."

"I'm probably not the best person to talk to her right now, Rachel... My mood is all over the place. I might snap at her."

Rachel shook her head and took out her phone. "You won't snap at her. I know you. Especially once you see her, your heart will melt and you'll be incredibly worried. Just trust me. And start taking your medication. You need it, and you know it. Own who you are, okay? Meds and all."

Chloe rolled her eyes, finishing off her joint and shaking her head. "My meds screw me up just as much as they help me, and I'm sick of it. I don't want some medicine ruling my life, Rach. I want to get better and move past needing medicine so I'm "normal" and not like this."

"And the only way you're going to do that, Chloe, is by taking the medicine to get better. Eventually you'll get leveled out, but it's going to take time and it's going to take taking care of yourself. And only you can do that. We can help you through anything you need help with, but it's going to take you making the effort first." Rachel stood up and lightly hugged Chloe. "Everything will be alright."

"Thanks, Rachel... I didn't think I'd ever be saying that again but really, thanks," Chloe said, getting back into her truck and taking off. She couldn't help the worry and confusion that entered her thoughts after everything. She didn't know if she wanted to trust Rachel yet or not, and she wasn't sure if she was ready to face Max, but it sounded like Max really needed her.

It didn't take long for her to get to the school. Barely paying attention to how she parked, she got out of the car and headed to Max's dorm. She knocked once without a response and knocked louder a second time still with no response.

 _ **(Trigger warning start)**_

With that, Chloe forced entry into Max's room. She went over to the bed where Max was curled up but when she moved to look at Chloe it was obvious why the brunette hadn't answered. Multiple thin cuts that were still bleeding lay on her arms.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." she rasped, turning over so that she was facing in Chloe's direction and shakily pushing herself up. "I can't keep doing this..."

Rachel had been right about her heart melting when she looked at Max. The brunette was pale as a ghost and looked sleep deprived as well. Chloe sat on the bed and hugged her tightly, burying her face in her best friend/lover's hair and kissing her cheek. "Don't apologize... You don't ever have to apologize for how you're feeling, Super Max... Just tell me what's wrong... What happened? And what can't you keep doing?"

"No! If I tell you, you're going to leave me!" Max yelled out, trying to squirm away from Chloe's touch, but Chloe held her tighter. It broke her heart to see Max like this, so broken and in pain. Whoever did this, she wanted to punch them in the face till they didn't have any teeth left.

"Max, you need to calm down... Listen, I'm never leaving you... I'm sorry about the message earlier. I was just feeling really ignored and alone. But we need to get you cleaned up." All she got was a nod from the smaller girl and with that she stood up and grabbed a washcloth from Max's shower stuff and grabbed a bottle of water off her desk and started using it to wet the wash cloth. Seeing Max like this dug up old memories of herself in the same position, except nobody came for Chloe. It was after her mom found her in the bathroom bleeding out that she was finally taken to the hospital and put on the medications she was supposed to take. That was really when her mom and her had started drifting as well. But right now wasn't the time to dwell on that since Max needed her.

None of the cuts were horribly deep, but they were still slightly oozing blood, so Chloe did her best to clean them up and then found some antiseptic and put it on them. "I could put some gauze on them if you want as well, but that should do with how small they are... You'll probably want to wear a jacket for the next week or so when you're out and about if you plan to hide them. Just... Promise me you won't do this again, Max... I've been where you are right now, and I don't want to see you take that path... I don't want to see you almost die because you accidentally cut too deep... Or almost die because you're trying to kill yourself... I don't admit this easily, Max, but I'm scared for you..."

 _ **(Trigger warning end)**_

Max sighed and sat up, taking in a shaky breath. "I won't do it again... There are some things I need to tell you, Chloe... And I was ready to, I was... But then last night... My uncle..." She shook her head. "I can't tell Mom and Dad... You can't tell Mom and Dad, and you can't tell Joyce or David either... I'm trusting you, Che..."

"Whatever it is, I won't tell anybody until you're ready to tell them. And when you're ready I'll be standing beside you. Okay? You're my best friend and you're also now my girlfriend. No matter what I'm here for you, babe."

Max nodded and took in a deep breath, unlocking her phone and flipping through some messages before handing her phone to Chloe. "Read them all, then I'll explain..."

* * *

 _ **A/N: And that's where I'll stop for this time. :) I really wanted to have it being a Max chapter when she explains so that we can get her feelings through her explaining.**_

 _ **I actually didn't have many plans for this chapter, and that's part of the reason it took me awhile to get done. But I really wanted to show a little of what Chloe went through during the time the two were apart. So we'll see more of that in the Chloe chapters. And we'll find more out about Rachel as it goes, too. ;)**_

 _ **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and if you did don't forget to leave a review! :D I love hearing from you guys and always try to reply to the reviews that I can reply to. :)**_


	11. Truth

_**Protector**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of Life is Strange. Please excuse any spelling mistakes/errors. I try my best. I'm always open to ideas and comments, so if you have an idea of where you think the story should do shoot me a PM or write it in a review. It just might find its way into the story.**_

 _ **General Trigger Warning: Max talks about her rape this chapter as well as her self-harm a bit and it goes a little into her head on that part. As always, if you need an alternate chapter I can do that. I can also post two versions if it's wanted. One for people who aren't triggered and one for people who may have issues. This will be one of the last mentions of these topics until we reach Thanksgiving.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 11: Truth  
** _ **Monday November 11, 2013**_

Max took in a shaky breath as she watched Chloe's eyes move back and forth, reading all the messages from her uncle. All of them made reference to what happened the night before she left Seattle, and she saw the realization cross her lover's face the farther she got down in the messages before the blunette looked up at her.

"What the fuck? This better not mean what I think it means, Max, or he's gonna die when they come down for Thanksgiving. A rapist is **not** staying at my house. And you didn't tell your parents? Or the police? Why?" Chloe asked, handing Max's phone back to her. She figured that Chloe would ask a landslide of questions, and it never really felt like it would be as difficult as it was for her to answer them.

"It means exactly that, Che... That's why I've been acting weird. That last one. It's really unnerving for me to really admit that he's going to be here again and that it might happen... That he'll..." She took in a deep breath to calm herself. "I didn't tell anyone, because I don't think they'll listen... I'm the kid with Asperger's who doesn't fully understand everything. That's the way I sometimes come off to people, y'know? It's stupid because I'm not even that bad, and haven't been that bad since I was a kid, but it's still hard. Plus, what if I do tell them and then they don't believe me? What then? I deal with the fact that I have to have my abuser around **and** that what happened got pushed aside... I can't do that... I can't..."

She could see the rage building behind Chloe's eyes, and it honestly scared her a little. She knew that the rage wasn't geared toward her and it was more toward her uncle than anyone else, but it still unnerved her to see Chloe that angry and yet calm. You would have to really know Chloe to be able to tell the subtle difference in her face hiding that she was boiling beneath the surface, but it was as obvious as the fact that the grass is green.

"I just don't know what to do, Che... I'm so scared of him, because I know that those aren't idle threats... He isn't just making them to sound tough and to scare me... He's saying that because that's what he plans to do... He's **planning** it, and that terrifies me... I don't even want to see my parents, because it means being around and seeing him and I just can't... I don't know what to do..." The stronger front that she'd put up was starting to crumble, and she could feel it rising. All the pressure of everything was beginning to get to be too much again... That's why she'd hurt herself in the first place because it helped to relieve some of the pressure was feeling.

Chloe started pacing which caused Max even more anxiety. She knew that Chloe was angry at her uncle for what he did, but did that mean that she didn't see her as damaged? One of the many things that had been drilled into her thoughts and mind was that if any potential love interest found out about what happened, they'd just toss her to the side because that means she isn't as good as others. It was one of the many reasons she didn't tell Chloe in the beginning. She didn't want her to see her in a bad light. In a way that would make her leave her...

"We need to come up with a plan to get him caught, Max. Some way so that he'll get put behind bars and away from you. It's just gonna take a lot of planning and time, which we don't really have. Thanksgiving is in two weeks. That means we have two weeks to come up with a plan to get that asshole behind bars or something. But we can do it, Max. And I'll protect you from him, don't you worry. If it helps, I can camp out in your dorm room. After I got expelled, Rachel always helped me to sneak in, so there's no issue there. I know how to get in and keep it secret. Plus, David works here and maybe he'll help if I mention it's something for you and I'm extra nice the next couple weeks. But no matter what, Max, I promise that I'll stay by your side the whole time that they're visiting. I won't leave you even for a second, and yes that means you're coming to the bathroom with me and I with you. We can turn around for each other if you're not comfortable," Chloe said then sat next to Max and hugged her tightly, kissing the top of her head.

Just being there in Chloe's arms brought her more comfort than she had felt in such a long time. Hearing Chloe talk about a plan to get her uncle caught and having told her about everything, it brought a relief through her that she hadn't even imagined when she first steeled herself to tell Chloe about everything. There was comfort and safety in knowing that her lover was going to be there for her and take care of her and do everything in her power to help her put the man who wronged her behind bars. As all these emotions washed through her, she buried her face in Chloe's shoulder and just let everything out. All her pent up feelings that she'd been hiding for so long and her fears that had given quite a few nightmares.

Chloe sat there silently holding her girlfriend, rubbing her back and softly shushing her and whispering sweet things in her ear to calm her. Just sitting there letting everything out and having Chloe be there really helped Max a lot. People talk about feeling like there's a huge weight off their shoulder and this was definitely that kind of moment for her.

"Classes are over for the day, so why don't we get you cleaned up a bit and go grab a bite to eat at the Two Whales. My treat. And I think it'll be good for you anyway to get outta here for awhile and just forget things. Plus it's something fun that the two of us can do together and we don't have to worry about everyone else here. Oh, and you can sleep over at my house if you want. I'm sure Mom won't mind and if David minds he can suck it," Chloe said, making Max smile for a brief moment.

Max weighed the idea in her head and after short consideration nodded. She really needed to just get out for a bit and maybe it'd help bring the two even closer than they were now. It was stupid to think about the future for them right now with their relationship so brand new, but Max hoped that they would be married with kids one day, and that hope for a future like that kept her going a bit. Even if it didn't end up being with Chloe, though she really hoped it did, that's what she wanted for herself. Even though now really sucked, she held tight to the fact that the future wouldn't be as bad as this.

After getting cleaned up and putting on her jacket, the two headed out of her dorm room to be greeted to Victoria and her two lackeys. And it was pretty obvious by the look she was giving the two of them that she was **not** in a good mood at all.

"Oh look," Victoria sneered, jabbing a thumb at the two. "Punk bitch and selfie whore, together again.

Max looked away down the hallway, trying to ignore her and drag Chloe along, but Victoria had ignited the blunette's rage, and there was no saving her from that.

"Listen here, Chase," Chloe spat, getting up in the slightly shorter girl's face and glaring at her. "You talk to either of us that way again, and you're gonna need your face reconstructed. I don't care who you think you are to be being such a bitch, but back the fuck off and step away."

"You stepped up to **me** , Price. So why don't you back off? And take your daddy issues somewhere else. It isn't cute," Victoria bit back, the two almost forehead to forehead. It slipped Max's mind a lot that Chloe had gone to school here before she'd arrived. And of course she'd have just as much issues with Victoria as Max did presently.

What she wasn't expecting, though, was Chloe backing up a bit and slamming Victoria in the face with her fist. That was a pretty big surprise. Max pulled Chloe back before she could get another hit in and took the glare from Victoria. She pulled the blunette away quickly before anything else could go wrong and left out the doors.

"Why'd you do that, Che? She's gonna complain to the principal and you're gonna get banned from campus or something," Max asked as they walked away, past all the other people.

"Yeah, well bitch hella deserved it. She was horrible when I went here and she's obviously not changed much from then. I had to be nice to her back when I was with Rachel, because they're friends. But now? I don't have anything holding me back from popping a bitch in the face. So that's what happened. And you can't even imagine how incredibly good that felt. And you know as well as I do that she deserved it. So don't even try and lie and say you didn't," Chloe said with a grin, getting to her truck.

"Yeah, yeah, Che. I still don't agree with you punching her in the face, though. She deserved it, but I still don't think it was the right thing to do. She **wanted** to get a rise out of us, and you just gave her what she wanted. Kill 'em with kindness, Che. Kill 'em with kindness." Max chuckled a little as Chloe groaned.

"Okaaaaaaay, Mooooooom," Chloe smirked, kissing Max's cheek and starting her truck up. "Gosh, Mom would love having you around and probably wishes you were around when I was in school at Blackwell. You would've kept my ass in line, and she'd have loved it."

"If I'd still been around, you might not even be the awesome Chloe that you are today, Che. I mean, let's say I'd stayed instead of moving. Lived with you guys in that guest room or in your room. You probably wouldn't have gone all punk princess, and you wouldn't have made friends with Rachel. You would still be at school at Blackwell, because I definitely would've kept you in line. You probably wouldn't have your hella amazing arm tattoo. I mean, just think about all the things that would be different if you and I had stayed friends. Even if I'd moved, I still would've tried to keep you in line from Seattle. And I would've visited on weekends when I could. And on holidays. You wouldn't be who you are today if we'd stayed friends for those five years. So really, I think we should be grateful a bit. Because I know you love who you are now, and I do too. Even if you are different, it doesn't mean that you're a bad different. And I'm sure your mom, when you're not being a belligerent teenager, feels the same way," Max said, looking at the amazement on Chloe's face at her little speech.

"I guess you're right, but at least I would have been able to protect you from your uncle. Get you to see that what he was doing was wrong before it lead up to what he did. I just, I dunno. I wanted to be there for you, y'know? I love you to death, Max. Always have. You're my best friend, my first mate, and hopefully my soulmate. And I don't want to lose you," Chloe said, looking over quickly to give her a small smile. "You're my rock."

"Aww, Che. Look at you getting all sentimental. I was expecting a bit of yin to your yang, though. Cuz we kinda are, if you really look. We're opposites to each other that kind of just fit together perfectly. And I love it. And I love you. No matter what, Chloe, I'm not gonna let anything separate us ever again. If I'm feeling down and depressed, I'm calling you first thing. Especially now that I can be honest about everything that's going on in my life. Oh, and when I tell Kate and Dana, I want you there... I don't know if I'll ever tell Warren, but I know I'm telling those two," Max said, scooting over and resting her head on Chloe's shoulder.

"Well ya know, Maxaroon, I've always got your back just like I know you've always got mine," Chloe said, resting her head on Max's for a second with a smile. "I never thought in a million years that I'd get to be here with you like this. But here we are. And you're mine now, which means I'm protecting you with everything I've got. Even from icky Vicky. Which totally absolves me from any wrongdoing by punching her in the face," Chloe grinned impishly, pulling into the Two Whales.

"Wow, Che. Absolved. You used a big kid word," Max giggled as she got a light smack on the arm with a laugh from Chloe.

"I don't always talk like a kid, y'know," she said getting out of her truck and getting the door for Max. "And just so you know, tomorrow you're getting hella spoiled."

* * *

 _ **A/N: So this took me longer than I expected due to spring break this week for my siblings. I was hoping to get two chapters out this week, but my siblings were home which means that I didn't get much peace and quiet time. Lolz My plan for total chapters for this is 22 or so. So we're about halfway there. :)Unless I can come up with more ideas, which if I'm being honest I'm kinda running dry a bit on. That's another reason that chapters have been a bit slower. I'm bad at idea planning... But! There are going to be epilogue chapters that will detail their lives after the story. :) So you can look forward to that. ^-^**_

 _ **Anywho! Don't forget to leave a review! They're what keeps me going. :)**_


	12. Rachel's Confession

_**Protector**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of Life is Strange. Please excuse any spelling mistakes/errors. I try my best. I'm always open to ideas and comments, so if you have an idea of where you think the story should do shoot me a PM or write it in a review. It just might find its way into the story.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 12: Rachel's Confession  
** _ **Wednesday November 13, 2013**_

Chloe laid in her bed staring up at the ceiling, deep in thought. She was still trying to think up a plan of action for getting Max's uncle in trouble for what he's doing. She knew that they could just take Max's phone to the police, but the question is would they be able to read in to it? Knowing the police in Arcadia Bay? It was pretty doubtful. Plus, Chloe didn't think that Max's uncle would be stupid enough to use an actual trackable phone number to send these messages. Why use a real number when he could just get one of those apps for texting and use that number? And it wouldn't really be trackable either because you can just put whatever name you want to. No, they couldn't do it that way.

Sighing, she sat up and looked out her window to see Rachel down near her truck, messing on her phone. Seconds later, her phone buzzed to life with a text message she figured was from the blonde. Looking, she was right. Rachel was asking if she could come out and talk again, because she really needed someone to talk to right now. Part of her didn't want to, because she didn't want to get close to Rachel again only for her to turn against her and cause her pain for a second time. The other part of her wanted to, though, because Rachel was still special to her. Still important. And she knew that there weren't a lot of people the girl could fully open up to. Rachel had told her as much the day before, stating that Chloe was probably the best friend that she'd ever had and probably the biggest hearted person she'd ever met as well.

Grabbing a light jacket, she headed downstairs and went outside. It was still early enough that her mom and David weren't back and it was a huge relief that she didn't have to deal with either of them. Her thoughts traveled to what it could be that Rachel wanted as she went up to her truck and gave a half wave. She knew that talking to others about her issues wasn't really one of Rachel's strong points, never had been, and she was better at helping others than letting herself be helped. In the time that they'd know each other though Chloe had tried to get the girl to open up a bit more. About her home life, about her boy troubles. Just anything. And there were times when Rachel let down her barriers and talked openly to Chloe about things and then there were other times where she'd get mad for being prodded and take off.

Over the years, their relationship had really grown. From a simple friendship to them being what the other needed at the time. For Chloe, a best friend and then lover who would stand by her and help her deal with everything her life had thrown at her. For Rachel, an ear to listen and to push her to talk when she seemed to need it the most. According to Rachel, not a lot of people had done that for her. So standing there together next to her car, it felt like old times when Rachel was mentally beaten down and just needed an out. To run away with her blue haired punk for awhile and forget the world. And she had a feeling that's exactly what this was.

"Hey, I just... I know we only really talked yesterday, but I needed to talk to you, Chloe. I know you're probably still mad, and rightfully so, but I just want to rebuild our friendship. And I know that might not be what you want, but-" Rachel said, getting cut off when Chloe raised her hand for her to stop.

"Rach, listen. Yesterday you did me a solid. You brought me outta my funk and got me to Max when she needed me the most. If you hadn't done that, she would have been alone in her room really depressed. And maybe done something even more stupid than she'd already done. But you told me about her acting strangely and sent me to her, and I can't be mad at you since you did that. I'm still hurt by everything that you did to me, but I'm not going to just abandon you if you need me. It'll take a long time for things to even maybe go back to normal between the two of us. I at least wanna give it a shot though, You'll have to ask Max yourself if she feels the same." It wasn't easy for Chloe to say all that, but the relief on Rachel's face made it better.

Chloe knew where Rachel wanted to go and, after both girls got in the car, headed that way. Awkward silence hung in the air between the two, neither really knowing what to talk about. Chloe figured Rachel was probably also steeling herself for whatever it was that she needed to say. It had to be something big for it to have upset the blonde as much as it obviously had. It may not be outwardly obvious to everyone, but Chloe knew the signs. She didn't even need to think about searching for them anymore, because it had become such second nature to her. Usually Rachel would be talking animatedly about something while looking out the window and pointing out landmarks and memories. But right at that moment she was fidgeting with her hands, sign number one, and she was avoiding eye contact, sign number two. Neither of these things she was doing out in the open though. She didn't know Chloe was looking at her, so she wasn't trying as hard to hide it though.

It felt like longer than it actually was, but they finally pulled in at the junkyard and both got out. Through silent agreement they went to their little hideout and sat down. Chloe was very torn after everything that had happened over the past month, and boy could she not believe it had only been a month. Half of her wanted to feel bad for Rachel and to just hold her tightly and tell her everything was going to be alright again while the other half wanted to just yell at her. So instead she just sat there, waiting for Rachel to speak.

Rachel took in a shaky breath then started. "I didn't know who else to turn to, Chloe... Yeah sure, I helped you the other day, but I know you're still mad at me. You're still hurt, and I completely understand that. I'd be mad too if I were in your position... But I just... Sure kids at school adore me, which so isn't deserved, but I can't just go up and talk to some random stranger who has some random attachment to me and tell them what's going on. The only person I trust enough to tell that will talk to me is you... Max... I'd try, but I know I'd just get an icy glare and ignored. I just need you to hear me out.

"I guess I'll start from the beginning... I heard Mr. Jefferson talking on the phone one time, and it was just a really strange conversation in and of itself. Stupid me got curious and when he left campus for some reason, I followed. Got a friend to drive me and they stayed out in the car while I went into this abandoned barn... I was able to sneak in and get into this really strange room before I was caught. It looked like a really bright, white photography studio, but the place really just gave me the creeps. Jefferson... He told me that if I didn't work with him and do what he wanted that he'd ruin me. He'd make absolutely certain that I never got anywhere in my career... I was told to meet him in the parking lot that night...

"Modeling is my passion... I couldn't just not do what he said and give it up... He-He's famous, you know? It wouldn't take much for him to completely ruin my chances at getting into modeling... So I did what he told me... I realized after getting in his car that we were headed back to the barn where I'd found everything... He started talking about how there was some partying soon that he needed my help bringing someone to that place... But first..." Rachel shuddered and held herself close, grabbing out a joint and lighting it, continuing after a few drags. "I was taken down there and drugged... And it's happened more time after that, too... At first, I didn't know what he did... I was out of it because of whatever drugs he used... After the drug wore off, he told me what it was and that I needed to get some from Frank for him... That he knew who his next victim was going to be and I was going to help him get her... So I did... I secretly drugged Kate. There was some guy that I guess Jefferson had paid to drive her there and back to the school... She-She was raped, Chloe... That guy, I think he raped her... And I can't say anything about it without telling someone about Jefferson which I can't do or else I get in trouble too..."

Rachel turned away from her, but Chloe could see the tears in her eyes as she finished off her joint and snuffed it out on the dirt. Everything she'd told her was an information overload, and she could barely keep it all straight in her head. But she was trying for Rachel's sake. It was pretty obvious, though, that Jefferson was one sick fuck of a teacher, and it did kind of worry her that Max was in that class, too. What if he did something to her? Or tried to? Chloe wasn't going to let that happen. "Rachel, I-" Chloe started.

Rachel held up a hand to stop her and shook her head. "I need to finish... Outwardly I look okay, I'm sure... But inside, I'm falling apart, Chloe... I don't know what to do... I can't keep living with this guilt, and it's eating me alive... I was the cause of a close friend getting hurt... He's taking weird pictures of me as well sometimes when he doesn't want to look suspicious... I've never seen mine, but I saw Kate's... He showed me... Told me 'this is what you're a part of now, and if I go down you go down with me'... I'm worried about myself, because I'm doing stupider and stupider things, Chloe... To try to forget... To **cope** with what I'm being forced to do... Even Frank is worried about me and has tried to get me stop, but I keep doing it because I need an escape... A release... Taking whatever I can get my hands on to numb the emotional pain and forget everything for a little while... Gone to class drunk more than once... I hate going to Mr. Jefferson's class...

"I don't want to get close to Max again... She was his next target until things got messed up between the two of us... He knows he can't get her without my help, because it would be too obvious. And he doesn't want what happened to Kate to happen again, because that could bring more attention to him... I'm so close to just ending it all to end my misery... Leaving some note telling people where to go to find Jefferson's psycho room... I don't know what to do, Chloe... And the Prescott's are involved with that place, so the police probably won't do anything, because it's the Prescott's..." Rachel shifted a little, resting her head on her knees.

"Wow, Rach. Just, damn... That's a lot to take in, but holy shit. I never noticed, and I honestly feel kinda shitty about it right now. That party... I remember us fighting about you going, because you'd said you weren't going to and we made plans but last second you changed everything and were going. But there's gotta be something that we can do to bring that sick fuck down. The police can't just ignore it if someone tells them about all this stuff, and-" Chloe stopped as Rachel buried her face in her knees and started crying. It wasn't a gentle cry, either. It was the cry of a girl who'd been broken... One Chloe herself knew all too well.

She scooted closer and hugged Rachel tightly, rubbing her back and shushing her. There had been many times that Rachel had done the same for the blunette and she still did really care for Rachel. She always would. Chloe knew that for now she needed to hold it together and she could have her own stressed freak out moment later. Not only did she have to deal now with Max's uncle, but she had to deal with stuff with Rachel as well. Besides being there for her, there wasn't much Chloe could do right this moment. She didn't really trust the police in this town, but maybe there was something that David could do if she took Rachel to him, no matter how much she didn't want to ask for David's help. She knew how the man felt about Rachel, but she couldn't do this on her own.

It took a good twenty minutes to get Rachel calm enough that she could listen to what Chloe had to say, but Rachel was at least agreeable to telling David. So that's what they were going to do. She was his step-daughter, no matter how much she loathed that, so maybe that would get her points toward him believing them. She hoped...

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 _ **A/N: So originally that's so not what this chapter was going to be. XD But well, people have been asking about Jefferson and what he's doing in this story, and this whole thing popped into my head. I promise I'm going to flesh out my next story better than this so that I don't get writer's block on that one. That's been part of my issue with this story is not having ideas till Thanksgiving. But at least I've got some now. And we'll see how long this story ends up, because it'll depend on how long this part of the story takes as well. It could extend a bit past Thanksgiving and the confrontation with Max's uncle.**_

 _ **Anyway, don't forget to leave me a review and tell me what ya think! :) I really do love hearing from you guys and each and every one of you that reviews is amazing. You guys really make me smile and brighten my day. :)**_

 _ **Also:**_

 _ **Jk Tolkien: We'll see what happens. ;) I really do love David as a character. I hated what he did to Chloe, but I do love him as a character. He will**_ **definitely** ** _play a role in all that. :)_**

 _ **Time Dragon: Well, I'm glad I could bring it to you! :) And I just may message him. I'm assuming he's played LiS? It may be strange of me to message him asking about ideas, but I'll definitely think about it. So thank you. :)**_


	13. Dangerous

_**Protector**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of Life is Strange. Please excuse any spelling mistakes/errors. I try my best. I'm always open to ideas and comments, so if you have an idea of where you think the story should do shoot me a PM or write it in a review. It just might find its way into the story.**_

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 **Chapter 13: Dangerous  
** _ **Wednesday November 13, 2013**_

Her mind had been racing all day with thoughts of what her and Chloe were going to do. Neither girl had come up with a plan yet to take her uncle down, and she knew that time was really limited on that front. They had a tiny bit over two weeks to figure out what they were going to do and get everything set up and in motion, and Max wasn't entirely confident that they could do it. Since when did you hear about two teenage girls taking down a rapist? Never. But Chloe had told her that thinking that way was going to get them nowhere, so she tried her best to stay positive.

Sitting in Jefferson's class was probably the worst part, because it was so close to the end of the day that she could almost feel it. But not quite close enough that she could go back to her room and call Chloe and start more of their planning. It hadn't gone over her head either that Rachel was absent from class. She knew why Kate was missing, but Rachel was, too, and that was a bit concerning. Rachel had sure been the one to send Chloe to her, but she didn't know Rachel's motives. What if she was trying to get Chloe back? What if they were together right now and Rachel was trying to win Chloe's affection? _No, Max. Calm down. Seriously? You think Chloe would leave you for Rachel again? After what Rachel did to her? Psh. You worry yourself too much. Your uncle just texted you because your phone buzzed and Chloe said unless it was an emergency, which it's_ _ **not**_ _, she wouldn't text, but you're fine. Totally fine. Totally and completely-_

"Max? Can you answer the question?" Mr. Jefferson asked, dragging her away from her internal pep talk. Obviously she hadn't been paying attention and didn't even know the question, so she took to shaking her head.

"Sorry... I spaced out for a minute," she apologized, bowing her head a little to hide the embarrassment on her face. The slight disappointed sigh from Jefferson was like a stab in the chest. She hadn't **meant** to get so lost in thought. It just happened. But she steeled herself to pay more attention for the rest of the class period. Doodling a little in her notebook, what kid didn't?, but still paying close attention to what Jefferson was telling the class.

When class was finally let out, she quickly gathered up her stuff and headed for the door to try and sneak out with the other kids. She knew full well that Mr. Jefferson was going to want to talk to her after class, and she fully intended to dodge that. Her plan failed miserably as she noticed that he was standing right outside the classroom door.

"Max? Can I talk to you for a second in my classroom?" he asked, gesturing to the now unoccupied doorway. It was a completely normal thing for Jefferson to ask, but she still felt the anxiety bubble in the pit of her stomach at the thought of a student-teacher talk. She **so** didn't need this right now. But she still nodded and went into the classroom and to his desk where he sat down.

"You're not in trouble, Max. I've just noticed that all of this week you've not been yourself. First on Monday you were pale and sick looking, Tuesday you weren't even in class, and now today you're spacing out. All of the things that I'm trying to teach you are things you're going to need to know if you ever hope to make it anywhere in photography, Max. I know, I know, it sounds a bit harsh, but that's the reality. You need to pass the class. It looks so much better on you, especially when it comes to getting into an art college, if you have this groundwork now. I was a kid once, and I know that school can get really boring, but this is your **passion**. You're talented at photography, and you have so much potential just sitting in waiting for you to use it. If you don't, sooner or later you're going to lose it, and I'd hate to see that happen to you. You have an artist's eye, Max. You see the world differently than others. You take the beauty in everything and turn it into something magical. And if you **ever** need someone to talk to, I'm here. Just because we're your teachers doesn't mean that we can't be your confidants in times of need. Okay?" he asked, hands folded in his lap looking expectantly at her. She hated how he always looked at her like his bore into her soul.

"Okay... I know I've been kind of absent lately, Mr. Jefferson. And I apologize. There's just a lot going on in my life right now, stuff that I can't really explain, and it's just taking a lot of my attention. But I'll do better. I even wrote notes all period after you called me out and I embarrassed myself," she said, fidgeting a little under his gaze. For some reason just the way he was looking at her felt off. But she couldn't put her finger on why. _It's 'cause you're paranoid, Max. Duh. Every man is evil, remember? Stupid uncle. Stupid anxiety._

"You can't let anything get in the way of your dream, Max. I know it's difficult, but it will be incredibly worth it in the end. But you can go," he said standing up. She moved toward the door to leave. "Oh, and if you could tell Rachel that I'm not impressed with her missing class?"

Max nodded and then high-tailed it out of there, heading straight to the entrance of school so she could get outside and get some fresh air. Everything he'd said was true, but she still couldn't just forget everything outside of school when she was in classes. That was pretty much impossible.

"Hey, Max. Everything okay?" Warren asked as he walked up to her with a smile. "Been awhile since we hung out so I figured maybe we could take Kate and go get dinner all together or something. Hang out for a bit?"

Warren was such a sweetheart. She couldn't wait to see what girl he ended up with, because she was going to be incredibly lucky. She wasn't interested in him in that way, and she kind of almost hated that she wasn't, because he really is a pretty amazing guy. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just got a lot going on right now, but I could totally use a break from it. I'll ask Kate if she wants to go and meet you at your car?"

"Sounds good to me, Max," he smiled. "Oh, and if you wanna invite Chloe or someone else, I've got room in my car for four." With that, he walked away and headed off to the boy's dorms and she headed to the girl's. It wasn't often that she got to hang out with Warren anymore, not since getting together with Chloe. But she was definitely down for doing so after the rough few weeks she's had. She felt bad, too, because she really had been ignoring her friends, Warren the most, since her and Chloe had come back into each other's lives. It was hard to hang out with Warren a lot due to the whole fear or guys thing and the fact that they lived on separate sides of the school and didn't have any classes together.

It didn't take long for her feet to carry her to the girl's dorms and to Kate's room. Her two best friends were probably the sweetest people she knew. Though technically she could count count Chloe as a best friend, so three. Though Chloe wasn't necessarily the textbook definition of sweet, so back down to two.

It didn't take Kate long to answer the door and when she did she smiled. "Hey, Max. How are you?

"I'm okay. Do I look okay, because Warren just asked me that, too. And Jefferson pulled me aside after class and asked if I was alright." Was it really that obvious that she wasn't doing to well and had just put a mask on to seem fine?

Kate chuckled with a smile and nodded. "You look fine, Max. I just thought it would be better to ask that than the usual 'what's up'." If they were superheros, Max had to see that she could see Kate is the one behind the computer giving all the directions and coordinates and- _Focus, Max. So not the time to be going into la la land._

"I'm okay," she smiled, hiding that she'd zoned out yet again. "Warren stopped me as I was coming out of school and wanted to know if we wanted to go to dinner with him. I guess since the three of us haven't hung out in awhile, he thought it would be a cool idea. I'm down for it so long as you are."

Kate nodded her agreement and Max told her they'd walk down to the parking lot together before going to her room to drop off her schoolbag, which she had decided awhile ago she needed to stop carrying it around all over the place, and put her camera on a leather strap that she put over her shoulder like a purse. Except it went from one side to the other. Easier to keep a hold of and less likely for someone to try to steal.

She met Kate in the hallway and they went to meet Warren, then they were off. With little debate, they'd all decided that they would go to the Two Whales since that was kind of the popular place to go. Since they were a small, tiny town, if you could even call it a town, there weren't very many places to go out to eat. Not unless you were willing to onto the highway and get a rest stop restaurant. Those weren't always the best, though.

It was there in the car while Warren and Kate talked about something science related that Max decided it. It being that she was going to tell them tonight about what happened to her with her uncle. Both of them deserved the truth, and she had already told Chloe. She'd made it through that experience unscathed, so why not tell them? Kate and Warren were, next to Chloe, her two closest friends. Both were amazing and very trustworthy. She knew that neither of them would tell anybody without her permission, and it was too big a burden to carry all on her own anymore. After telling Chloe, the whole thing had seemed a lot less daunting. Did that mean she was ready to tell her parents? Heck no. But she knew that she could muster up the courage to tell her best friends.

"Max? You spaced out again," Warren said, looking at her from the rearview mirror. "Are you sure you're okay?" She could hear the worry in his voice, and it really did hurt in a way that she was causing her friends to worry so much. Just another reason to the list of them why she should tell them.

"I'm okay. I just decided something, and once we're sat down and all that I've got something that I need to tell you guys. Something I probably should've told you awhile ago." With that said, the air in the car got a little tense. She'd let Kate sit up front for obvious reason, and she had no issues with it, and now maybe they were wondering why. Or they were just curious or felt she didn't trust them enough. _Oh, I don't know. But I've really gotta stop with this whole worrying thing. It's not doing me any good. Come on, now will be the perfect time to tell them about your uncle, and you can start with telling them about the whole dating Chloe thing. Win-win in my books. Then I can tell them that if they want to they can tell Dana and Juliet, but I'd rather do that one myself, because she's my friend, too and should hear it from my mouth._

It didn't take them long to get to the Two Whales, especially with Kate and Warren talking the whole way and occasionally sending worried glances back her way. She tuned into their conversation here and there, listening to whatever it was they were going on about at the present moment. They'd actually seemed to have had a decent conversation. Max got out of the car and just as she did so her phone buzzed to life, pulling it out she saw it was Chloe and waved the two to go on ahead before answering. "Hey, Che. What's up?"

"Don't 'what's up' me, Maxine," the venom in her voice stung more than her use of her full name. "I sent you a text **hours** ago and haven't heard anything back from you. Did you even read it?"

The heat started rising to her face as embarrassment once again washed over her. That text hadn't been her uncle, it had been Chloe. Which meant- "Wait, that text was you? So something happened? Sorry, I just... I kind of spaced in class and thought it was just my uncle since you said you wouldn't text in case of emergency during school. I didn't think. Sorry."

"Yeah, well, listen. Rachel stopped by while you were in school and told me some stuff that you need to hear. We've got not only your uncle on our hands, but we've got a psycho at Blackwell, too. Where are you at? I can come get you so we can talk if you want," Chloe said, the anger melting away from her voice a little and replaced with a bit of worry. It was different to hear Chloe sound worried like she did now.

"I'm at the Two Whales with Warren and Kate. We decided we were going to grab dinner after class today. Are you at home? Is your mom off yet? I could have Joyce bring me home with her if anything, and-" Max started, but was abruptly cut off.

"No, I'll just come get you once you guys are done, but don't leave Kate and Warren's side until I get there. Or at least, don't leave sight of people. Stay inside till I get there and all that. Okay? And whatever you do, if you see Mr. Jefferson, don't go **anywhere** with him. Don't talk to him. Don't even look at him. Ignore his ass. And tell Warren that I'm trusting him with you and that if he fucks this up he's gonna be getting ripped a new asshole." There's where the venom in her tone went. Max knew something serious was going on.

"Yeah, I'll do that. Chloe, what's going on? Is everything okay?" she asked, worrying yet again today bubbling up inside her. She couldn't take all this worry, it was starting to make her dizzy.

"It's too much to tell you right now, but I've got David on it a bit. Sort of. We're still coming up with a plan. Rachel doesn't think that you'll see Mr. Jefferson in town, but I'd rather be safe than sorry and warn you anyhow. He isn't a good guy, Max. He's been doing some pretty creepy shit, and he's somewhat involved in what happened to your friend Kate. Please, please, please be careful, Max," Chloe said. She could just imagine Chloe's worried face as they talked over the phone.

"I'll be careful, Che. Promise. Why don't you head over here now, and then I can just go straight with you when I'm done. Or start heading this way in about twenty minutes or something. And if you think it's safer, bring David and Rachel with you. I think that's probably your best bet," Max said as she headed inside and to where Kate and Warren were sitting. "But I've gotta go for now. I'll see you in a bit."

"Yeah... Yeah, we'll do that. David will be down for that I think. I don't say this often, but I'm hella worried. This isn't children's stuff, Max. This is the big leagues. But we have David on our side, so hopefully that'll mean something. Try to have fun though. Love ya, dork," she said, a joking tone laced with worry.

"Love you, too. And I'll be fine. Promise," she said, hanging up and sitting down. "We'll wait till after we order, then I'll tell you guys the stuff I need to say."

It didn't take long at all for Joyce to come over and take their orders and head back to the back to make it, so Max was out of time in her stalling. But which to tell them first. About Chloe and her? Or about her uncle? Chloe and her was better news, so maybe that would be last.

"Okay, so I've got something that's good news and something that's bad news. Bad news first, because then the good news softens it and I don't have to think about the bad part..." She took in a deep breath and looked past the two, trying to concentrate on the things behind them so she didn't have to look them in eye. "Kate, I really should have told you before now, because maybe it would have helped with what you're going through, but... Before coming here to Blackwell and everything, my uncle sexually assaulted me... And that's why sometimes I seem so spacy or like on Monday when I wasn't doing too well... He'd messaged me. He's coming around for Thanksgiving with my parents, and I'm really not looking forward to that at all... But that's why sometimes I get weird around you, Warren. It's not that you did anything wrong, it's just kind of a reflex after what happened to me... All guys are just kind of put on watch because of it. I know you're a good guy, but subconsciously I'm just waiting for you to do something wrong... Which is terrible, I know." She took a peek at both their faces and relief watched over her as she saw both of them looking rather empathetic.

"Oh, Max... I wish you would have told me. I can only imagine what it would be like to have to go through it alone like you did... I had you, Dana, Juliet, Warren, and my family all around me for support. Did you not tell your parents?" Kate asked, moving and coming to Max's side to give her a hug.

"I haven't. Not yet. It's... difficult to think about telling them after all the programming I've basically gone through since I was thirteen. My uncle putting me down and making me feel like nobody... He's just, got such a tight grip on the way that I think... I hate it. I plan to try and find a way to tell them when they're here for the holiday though. Get him caught somehow. Chloe and I aren't sure what we're going to do yet, but we're going to do something," she said, a weight lifting off her shoulders. It had taken her far too long to get to this point of being able to tell people, but it really was a great relief.

"You know we're here for you, Max. And if you want us there when you tell Dana and Juliet, we'll be there to help you through it," Warren said, giving her a reassuring smile. "So what was the other good news?"

"Chloe and I decided to give dating a try. She confessed to me which then lead to me questioning my feelings for her, and it just kinda blew up from there. We started dating only about a week ago, but we grew up together. We've known each other since we were little kids in elementary school. And honestly? I do think I love her. It's just kinda gone unnoticed until she brought it up... I know that's gotta hurt, Warren, what with everyone telling me you're interested in me and me being blind as a bat to it, but you'll find someone else. I know you will," she smiled a little as Kate's face lit up and she hugged Max all the tighter.

"Oh my gosh! That's so exciting! I'm so happy for you both, Max," Kate gushed, a huge grin plastered across her face. "I can imagine you two being really adorable together."

She looked over at Warren and his face was a mix of emotions that made her heart hurt a little. You could see the happiness for her, but behind that you could also kind of see that little twinge of hurt because he had feelings for her and she was spoken for. She wasn't sure yet if she was gay or bi or whatever, but she knew she wanted Chloe and wanted to be with Chloe. That was one thing she was absolutely certain of.

The rest of dinner went fine, with jokes coming from each of them and smiles all around. Max was happy that she'd agreed to come out and spend time with the two, because it really had been quite some time since they last did something like this. She figured that by this point Warren had already mostly come to the realization that he just wasn't going to get Max anyway. She'd never really responded to any of his advances anyway, and even though they were both geeky and dorky they didn't really have a lot else in common. Enough in common to be friends but not enough in common to really be anything else.

It wasn't till after they finished eating that something seemed off. All of a sudden she started to not feel too well and had gotten this overwhelming dread in the pit of her stomach. Something wasn't right. She wasn't sure what, but there was obviously something going on. Looking around she didn't see anything out of the ordinary in the diner. Everyone was sitting and eating their food, talking and laughing just as they had been.

Looking out the window told a different story entirely, though. She must have caught what was going on out of the corner of her eye and that's what caused her to have the reaction that she did. Out there was both Jefferson's car and Chloe's truck pulling up at the exact same time. Chloe obviously there to get her. Who knows why Jefferson was there though. But from the look on Rachel's face in Chloe's car that she saw through the windows, it couldn't be anything good.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Oh my gosh, guys! I seriously can't believe I've written nearly 4,000 words in one day. o.o Well technically it'll probably be over 4,000 but wow. Honestly I've never written that big of a chapter. Much less in one day. Usually it takes me a few days to get a chapter done. But honestly? I'm really proud of this chapter. :) I kind of changed it up a little bit how I write them, and I think it came out really well, and I hope that you guys feel that way, too.**_

 _ **Don't forget to drop me a review if you've got a moment! :) I try to reply back to each of you when you do leave a review, so if you have any questions go ahead and ask. If I can answer the question, I will. If not, I'll tell you. :)**_


	14. Jefferson's Gambit

_**Protector**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of Life is Strange. Please excuse any spelling mistakes/errors. I try my best. I'm always open to ideas and comments, so if you have an idea of where you think the story should do shoot me a PM or write it in a review. It just might find its way into the story.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 13: Jefferson's Gambit  
** _ **Wednesday November 13, 2013**_

Boots thudding against the floor was the only sound that could be heard in Chloe Price's room as she paced back and forth, back and forth. From one end to the other she went, trying to calm herself down with the growing fear welling up inside her. What if something had happened to Max already? What if Jefferson, that prick, had gotten to her during class and that's why she'd not responded? What if-. Cutting off her own worried mind, she pulled out her phone and checked to see if there was any response yet. Zilch. She'd messaged Max as soon as they'd stepped foot in the Price household. Rachel had gotten David for her, and they'd sat down on the couch to talk.

Basically Rachel had explained to David everything that she had told Chloe, and even things that she'd forgotten but remembered on the car ride over. Chloe had tried her best to be a good friend and hug her, trying to keep her calm and reassure her that everything was going to be alright, that no one blamed her for what she'd had to do. After hearing everything, David had gotten up from the couch and looked out the window into the backyard, a contemplative look on his face as he stared off into the distance. Then suddenly had turned and asked Chloe about Max which then panicked Chloe since the brunette hadn't answered back. And that's how she wound up upstairs instead of downstairs with them, because she'd been practically banished to her room til she could calm down enough to help them plan. Which Chloe had taken as David basically giving her permission to get baked without actually giving her permission to do so. But for once, Chloe hadn't had the urge to smoke. No, smoking pot would just dampen her thinking which would make coming up with a plan so much more difficult, and she didn't need that right now. Not with Max in the predicament that she may or may not be in.

She growled in frustration and, having decided Max had had long enough to respond to her text message, it had been about twenty minutes ago, she dialed Max's number and waited.

"Hey, Che. What's up?" Came Max's answer, two rings later. Relief washed over her at the realization that Max okay, but it was soon replaced with a lot of anger.

"Don't 'what's up' me, Maxine," she said, knowing that the use of her full first name was going to sting. She deserved it after all the worrying she'd done the past hour or so. "I sent you a text **hours** ago and haven't heard anything back from you. Did you even read it?" Okay, so she was being dramatic about the hours thing, but she had the right to be, damnit.

It took Max a second to respond, and she was sure she was thinking about something. "Wait, that text was you? So something happened? Sorry, I just... I kind of spaced in class and thought it was just my uncle since you said you wouldn't text in case of emergency during school. I didn't think. Sorry."

"Yeah, well, listen. Rachel stopped by while you were in school and told me some stuff that you need to hear. We've got not only your uncle on our hands, but we've got a psycho at Blackwell, too. Where are you at? I can come get you so we can talk if you want." Even though she was still hella angry at Max, it helped that it was an honest mistake. Honestly, she probably would have thought the same in Max's position, but she wouldn't tell her that. Not now.

"I'm at the Two Whales with Warren and Kate. We decided we were going to grab dinner after class today. Are you at home? Is your mom off yet? I could have Joyce bring me home with her if anything, and-"

"No, I'll just come get you once you guys are done, but don't leave Kate and Warren's side until I get there. Or at least, don't leave sight of people. Stay inside till I get there and all that. Okay? And whatever you do, if you see Mr. Jefferson, don't go **anywhere** with him. Don't talk to him. Don't even look at him. Ignore his ass. And tell Warren that I'm trusting him with you and that if he fucks this up he's gonna be getting ripped a new asshole."

"Yeah, I'll do that." She could sense that sarcasm in Max's tone on that, but she let it slide. Warren **was** one of her closest friends after all. "Chloe, what's going on? Is everything okay?"

"It's too much to tell you right now, but I've got David on it a bit. Sort of. We're still coming up with a plan. Rachel doesn't think that you'll see Mr. Jefferson in town, but I'd rather be safe than sorry and warn you anyhow. He isn't a good guy, Max. He's been doing some pretty creepy shit, and he's somewhat involved in what happened to your friend Kate. Please, please, please be careful, Max," she begged, laying the worry on thick. She didn't usually beg, and it wasn't becoming of her, but she needed to make sure that Max was going to do it and not try to play superhero or something.

"I'll be careful, Che. Promise. Why don't you head over here now, and then I can just go straight with you when I'm done. Or start heading this way in about twenty minutes or something. And if you think it's safer, bring David and Rachel with you. I think that's probably your best bet," Max said, and Chloe could hear the sounds of the diner through the phone. Obviously the brunette must've just been standing outside and decided to go in. "But I've gotta go for now. I'll see you in a bit."

"Yeah... Yeah, we'll do that. David will be down for that I think. I don't say this often, but I'm hella worried. This isn't children's stuff, Max. This is the big leagues. But we have David on our side, so hopefully that'll mean something. Try to have fun though. Love ya, dork." She had tried to keep her voice calm and worry free with a tint of joking, but she knew that she'd not done a very good job of it.

"Love you, too. And I'll be fine. Promise," Max said as she hung up. Even though knowing that Max was safe was a relief, she still wasn't out of the woods. Just because Rachel **thought** Jefferson wouldn't go into town doesn't mean that he actually wouldn't. And that also meant that even though it was still broad daylight outside, only being about five o'clock now, Jefferson wasn't guaranteed not to make some move toward his target. Which was, according to Rachel, Max for the time being. They couldn't let this happen to other girls, either. It wasn't just about saving Max, though that was really Chloe's priority right now, it was about saving all the other girls that he could target next, too. Even if that included icky Vicky as she so spitefully called that preppy bitch.

Quickly throwing open her door and thundering down the stairs, she turned the corner quickly to see Rachel and David sitting reading text messages off Rachel's phone.

"Max is okay. We're going to all go pick her up at the Two Whales in about twenty minutes," she said, going over to read over their shoulders. "Whatcha guys lookin' at without me?"

"Text messages, Chloe," David said, glancing over at the bluenette and then back at the phone. "Just stuff that he's sent that could be used against him. But he's obviously very good at this, because he's seemed to have covered his tracks. Sure there's stuff in here that if you know what's going on looks bad, but the police wouldn't be able to use something like that to get him with."

"Which majorly sucks, because that's all we've got right now," Rachel added, flopping back a bit on the couch and sighing. "I should've said something to someone earlier... Before it got so big... I mean, I know that he's messed up in the head, but I'm sure that things could've gone way differently had I opened my mouth about all this sooner. And I'm really sorry, Chloe... Especially now with Max getting dragged into it..."

Chloe knew that Rachel was being sincere with her apology, but it still hurt her that Max was in trouble and it could have been prevented had Rachel done something earlier. The whole situation just sucked, and she hated it with a burning, fiery passion. On one hand, Rachel was somewhat the cause of all this, or was at the bare minimum a contributor, and on the other she didn't want to do any of what she'd had to. She shook her head and tried to give a bit of a smile. "It isn't your fault, Rachel. You were dragged into it just like any of the other victims. You're just in a more proactive role because of it..."

"Well, we should probably get ready to head over there. Just because he doesn't usually stop into town doesn't mean that he won't today to get at Max," David said, drawing the attention of the two girls. "You two let me handle things. I'm the adult here, and neither of you are as qualified for this as I am. Am I understood?"

Chloe rolled her eyes but nodded. She hated when he went all semi-army on her. He seemed to have this strange **need** for things to be orderly and for him to be in charge of things. David hadn't even been in a position of power in the army, so she didn't understand that part of it. But the orderly part made some sense at least. That's one thing that Joyce had liked about him. But now wasn't the time or place to be dwelling on such things.

They gathered up all the stuff that they'd need, including David grabbing a gun from his gun cabinet, and then they all piled into Chloe's truck. She'd insisted on that since it was a car that Max would recognize and that hopefully Jefferson, if he happened to be there, wouldn't recognize it. She tried her best to keep her thoughts straight and focused instead of letting everything careen off the cliffs of her mind and just blow up. They didn't need that.

She cut it close to running red lights, but always managed to get through **just** before they ended up turning red. Which was extremely lucky. Conversation was non-existent as they headed for the Two Whales because of the tense air in the car. None of them wanted to speak and risk setting something off that they couldn't afford right now. To Chloe, time passed quickly with her mind focused on one goal: Getting Max out of there and back to her house.

Rachel, as they pulled in at the Two Whales, nudged Chloe's arm and tried to point out the front window inconspicuously. As she looked where the girl was pointing, her stomach dropped and shivers chased their way up her spine.

"We're going inside, and we're getting Max. That's all. We are **not** going to do anything rash or stupid, you understand me?" David said, getting out of the car not giving either girl time to fight him on the matter. It wasn't that he didn't think they could do anything that's for sure. His first priority was getting Chloe, Rachel, and Max out of there safe and sound. They all knew they were going to be Jefferson's main targets.

"Don't act suspicious, either," Chloe added, getting out and pulling Rachel along who'd been siting there in stunned silence for too long. She walked in ahead of David and Rachel and headed over to where Max was after a brief scanning of the seats. Sliding into the booth, she slung an arm over Max as she saw Jefferson get out of his car. "Heyo, Maxaroni, Brainiac, and Kate. What up?" She quickly took in her surroundings. David was at the front, nearest the door, talking to Joyce. It looked like he might be telling her what's going on briefly, but she couldn't be too sure. He was leaned over the counter and talking quietly to her. She turned her head to look for Rachel and found her two booths down from where they were. She tried to gesture to her to join them, but she just shook her head.

Max was about to say something, but Kate spoke first. "So I'm just Kate, then? No cool nickname?" She smiled. Kate was oblivious to the situation, but her smile still served to calm Chloe's nerves a little as she brought her attention to the people sitting beside and in front of her.

"Not anything that probably wouldn't end up sounding hella offensive. So for now you're just Kate. Nothing wrong with that," she shrugged, smiling at Max and making a slight gesture to David in the room. She didn't want to alarm Kate or Warren unless absolutely necessary, so she was going to take it slow, pointing out what she could when she was able. "Sorry for crashing things."

"No, no, it's fine," Kate smiled. "It's been awhile since I've even seen you, and it's nice especially after learning about you two's relationship."

"Oh really? You did?" Chloe smiled, a little bummed from having not been there for it. But she knew that was probably easier for Max to do the way she had done it. That or she wanted to see if she was strong enough to handle it on her own.

As Jefferson walked into the diner, she could feel Max tense a little beside her, and she couldn't help tensing a little herself. Keeping him in her sight at all times, she continued talking. "I had wanted to be here for that, but it's cool. At least you guys know now, though. So Max is mine. No stealing." She looked pointedly at Warren and playfully stuck her tongue out at him. Admittedly childish, but what was Chloe but a big four year old?

"Hey, I'm backing off," he smiled, putting his hands up jokingly. "I'm just a nice guy, and we're just gonna be friends then." She could tell he was a little nervous and upset about the news, but at least he seemed to be taking it like a champ. Jefferson hadn't moved much, and she tuned out Max, Kate, and Warren so she could focus on him. Right now, he seemed to just be taking in his surroundings at the door. She noticed that he was avoiding her gaze but still looking straight at them from time-to-time. Which told her he wasn't looking directly at her but at Max. He also seemed to stop on Rachel as well, paying David no mind.

"Che?" Max asked, shaking her arm a little and grabbing her attention. Looking over at her she could see the hidden uncertainty and worry in her girlfriend's eyes. She hugged her briefly and gave her a reassuring smile.

That small lapse in her attention to Jefferson made her lose sight of him briefly. It wasn't long though till she found him again sitting on the opposite side of Rachel. Just by looking at the blonde, she could tell that she was extremely nervous, her head was down and she was mumbling to him which meant Chloe couldn't hear anything.

Chloe wanted to tell Warren and Kate what was going on so that she would have more help, but she knew that it would be stupid to do so. She didn't want to involve more people than absolutely necessary, and Max wouldn't even be involved if Jefferson wasn't actually after her. Though she **could** tell Kate without guilt, because she was a victim of Jefferson's little scheme as well.

Max kept sending her worried glances, but she brushed it off as she watched Jefferson talk to Rachel. What she wasn't expecting was for him to all of a sudden stand up and head for the door. Was this all a part of his plan to test Rachel's loyalty? And they'd fallen right into it.

"I'll be back, I forgot something in my truck," Chloe said, standing up and heading for the door. She caught sight of Rachel as she passed by, and she didn't look well at all. Her face was pale, she was trying to steady her shaking body, and she looked like she was about to cry. She didn't even notice Chloe going by her and heading out the door.

David followed closely behind and grabbed her shoulder. "Chloe, that's a bad idea. I know what you want to do, and you have every right to, but we can't go jumping into this without a plan. For once, please listen to me. What he did to Rachel and to Kate, he could do to you. I don't want to see that, and I'm sure that Max doesn't either."

Chloe sighed and nodded, relenting. "I know. He just... It pisses me off so fucking bad that he's getting away with something like this right now. He's a fucking psychopath working at a school and preying and its students and-" she let out a frustrated sigh, kicking at the wall of the building.

"And we'll get him, we just have to-" David was cut off by a commotion happening inside. They both looked in the window nearby to see that Rachel had fallen from her booth and was convulsing on the floor.

"Rachel!" Chloe yelled out, pushing past David and rushing inside to go to her... Well she didn't even know what Rachel was at this point, but she definitely mattered to the blunette.

Max had already gotten to Rachel before she had and was clearing everything away from her. "Mom and Dad told me that if I ever run into someone convulsing you don't want to hold them down or anything, because it might end up doing more damage than good. You've gotta just clear stuff away from them so it lessens their chance of getting hurt and wait it out..."

Chloe looked over and saw that her mom was already on the phone, probably calling 911. It took everything in her not to look at Rachel, because the sight bothered her so much. This was the second time she'd seen someone like that, and it wasn't anything she wanted to see again. It started to make her wonder is she'd have to with Max. Pushing the thought from her head, she just moved out of the way of the path to Rachel from the door and sat down at one of the bar stools.

She was still trying to process everything when the ambulance got there, but she'd come up with probably the most probable answer to what happened. Jefferson risked getting caught to drug Rachel. Get her out of the way. He must've found out somehow, she wasn't sure on the how of it all, that Rachel had told someone about what was going on. Whether he knew it was her and David, she didn't know. But that seemed the most logical reason.

Once Rachel was all set in the ambulance, she told her mom, David, and Max that she was heading over there to be with Rachel so that she'd know news as it came.

"I'm coming with you," Max said, lightly hugging her. "I'm here for you, and you've still gotta tell me what all is going on, anyway. We can talk on the way there."

Chloe just nodded, unable to get everything out that she wanted to say. She wanted to tell Max how grateful she was that she'd done what she could to help Rachel. Tell her that she was scared right now and that Max being there would help. She wanted to admit that she didn't know what was going to happen from here and that also frightened her. And lastly she wanted to tell Max how much she means to her, and how glad she is that it wasn't her that Jefferson targeted but how upset she is that it was Rachel.

Once they were in her car and headed out, she told Max everything that she knew as quickly as she could. They couldn't be talking about it at the hospital, because she didn't want anyone else to overhear and get involved. If a worker at the hospital heard, they'd ask questions. They didn't have enough proof to nail Jefferson, and it was pretty serious accusations that they'd have to make.

"Chloe, everything is gonna work out in the end. I just know it. There's **no** way that Jefferson is gonna get away with what he's done. It's gonna be difficult catching him in it, but we've got David. And he knows all about that kinda thing. Plus, he's the security guard at Blackwell. He can keep a closer eye on Jefferson than he has been, and he'll catch him somehow. I just know it," Max told her, rubbing her shoulder gently and kissing her cheek. "You'll see."

Chloe was determined now more than ever to get Jefferson behind bars.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Is this what I think it is? An update to Protector? Yes! :) I apologize for the lateness of this chapter. I've just been majorly depressed these passed few weeks and haven't had the inspiration/motivation to really write anything. But I'm not going to abandon this story, and I promise I won't be leaving you guys hanging. :) It may be once a week that I get chapters out, it just depends on how I feel, because I've been getting headaches a lot recently as well. And it's really difficult to focus on writing with a headache. Aaaaaaand Danganronpa 2 came out on Steam the other day, so I've been playing that. XD**_

 _ **But anyway, thank you guys so much for reading and sticking with me! Don't forget to leave a review if you liked it, helps me to know that people do enjoy it and helps keep my motivation up. :)**_


	15. The Plan

_**Protector**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of Life is Strange. Please excuse any spelling mistakes/errors. I try my best. I'm always open to ideas and comments, so if you have an idea of where you think the story should do shoot me a PM or write it in a review. It just might find its way into the story.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 15: The Plan  
** _ **Wednesday November 13, 2013**_

The rest of the night wasn't easy for either of the two girls sitting outside Rachel's hospital room. Waiting for the blonde's family to get there had been nearly absolute torture, because they couldn't get any information out of the doctors since neither of them was family. Max scooted closer and wrapped her arms around Chloe, who had her head in her hands and had been staring at the floor for the past half an hour.

"It's going to be okay, Che... I'm sure they'll figure out what caused it, and she'll be good as new in a few days..." Max said, rubbing Chloe's back the best way she could while still hugging her.

"No, no it won't Max. You know it, too. I know you do... Even if she gets better, Jefferson will still come after her... After us... He probably knows that she told me what was going on, and I dunno what to do, Max. What if he hurts you next?" she said, not looking up and shaking her head. "I can't risk losing you..."

"What happened to the Chloe that was so determined to bring him down and had so much faith in us that drove us to the hospital?" Max asked, resting her head on Chloe's shoulder and drawing a circle on her back. "We'll get through this, Che. Just think of it as practice for dealing with my crappy uncle, hm?"

Chloe shook her head and sighed, looking over at Max. "I guess. You have faith in all of this, so I'll try to, too."

"Well I got it from you, so it's only fair that I give it back to you now that you need it. We have David on our side, y'know? And Rachel once she gets out of here will be there, too. Plus, Rachel and you know what Jefferson did, and he was the last person to talk to her. So it won't be too hard for the police to put two and two together if we were to go to them. They can't deny the fact that she was probably drugged since she has no prior issues with seizures. We just need to find out where his hideout is and go there. Get pictures or something and take them to the police. Tell them where to go, and-" she knew the second she saw him that Chloe would notice the look of horror on her face and look over as well.

Down the hall, Mr. Jefferson was walking up toward them. Max noticed Chloe immediately whip out her phone and text David. He was with Rachel's parents at the moment, so he would have the best chance of making sure that he didn't get through to see her. Max knew what Jefferson would do if he got into that room, and they needed to protect Rachel as best as they could, because she was their key to getting him thrown in jail.

"I'll buy us some time," Max said, getting up and going toward Mr. Jefferson. Fear coursed through her as she got closer, but she pushed past that and forced a small smile. "Hey, Mr. Jefferson. What brings you by?"

"I just thought I'd check in on Rachel, see if she's recovering. How're you holding up after all that? I know you and Rachel are friends," he asked, but Max could see him peering over her shoulder and knew he was looking down the hallway toward where Rachel's room was. _Too bad for him, because David is warning them._

"I'm doing alright. Here for a bit of moral support for her, because I know how scary seizures can be. Help her get through it and all that. I just feel bad for her, because it came out of nowhere and she had no idea that she'd have one. I remember what that was like the first time. Anyway, if you wanna talk to her I'd come back another time. Her parents aren't letting anyone in just yet." Almost as soon as the words left her mouth, Chloe came up beside her and put an arm over her shoulders.

"And we're gonna be the first ones she talks to after her parents." She could tell from the way she was talking that Chloe was faking her normal tone, but it wouldn't be as evident to someone like Jefferson.

Jefferson stepped around them and flashed a small smile. "I'll still talk with her parents. There's something I needed to discuss with them, anyway."

Max watched him walk away and looked to Chloe who nodded. "No worries, Maxaroni. David has everything under control on his end. They won't be letting him in to see Rachel, and her parents aren't going to believe anything he tells them. They had a hard time believing what David said, but they trusted him once he said that all he wanted was to protect Rachel."

"Well that's a relief at least. Jefferson really needs to just leave her alone. And me. I _really_ don't need this so close to Thanksgiving. And-" Max started, Chloe stopping her with a finger to her lips.

"Shush. I'll get everything figured out, Max. I promise. But we've gotta take care of Rachel and Jefferson right now. I'm still coming up with a plan to deal with your uncle." Chloe hugged her, and it felt like a weight was being lifted off her shoulders. Having Chloe around always seemed to help her a lot when it came to anxiety and general worrying.

* * *

Both girls stayed at the hospital as long as they could before heading to Chloe's to rest and then headed back. They knew that they'd need information that only Rachel would have if they were going to stop Jefferson in his tracks and that she'd want him taken down, too. Especially after what he did to her.

She had the day off classes, making the excuse with teachers that she wouldn't be able to focus with a friend in the hospital (not entirely false), so besides getting breakfast that morning it had been smooth sailing getting back to the hospital and to Rachel's room.

Max almost did a double take upon seeing Rachel laying in the bed. The beautiful, energetic girl now looked like a zombie. Dark circles rested under her eyes and her hair was all ratty and in knots.

"Hey, Rach," Chloe said softly from next to Max, moving over to sit in a chair next to the blonde. "How're you doing?"

"Holding up... I know Jefferson did this to me, Chloe... I can't sleep or eat, because I feel like he's lurking everywhere. Mom and Dad told me he was here yesterday to see me, but David told them not to let him in... I should have known he would stoop this low, but at least we've got something on him... I was fine before talking to him, and he even told me what he did and what would happen. Said he was only telling me because he was a reputable photographer and it was his word against mine. I don't think he realizes that you and I spent a lot of the afternoon together with David. So I have someone who can stick up for me and say that I didn't do drugs myself... Then it's just a matter of getting them to listen about that bunker where he takes girls..." Rachel told them, briefly looking out the window. "I can't go back to school so long as he's there... I know he'll try to kill me to shut me up."

Max kept quiet as Chloe explained the plan that she'd come up with the night before. Max didn't like it very much, but at least they'd have David with them. Chloe had figured that Jefferson was probably planning for the worst to happen after drugging Rachel, so she thought he may try to get rid of all the evidence before the police could get there to look and make Rachel out to be a big liar. But Chloe's plan fixed that problem. She'd talked to animated about it the next before to her that she really wanted to believe that it would work. It would be incredibly risky, though. The plan was to find out from Rachel where they needed to go to find Jefferson's hideout, take David with them, and check the place out themselves. Take pictures of everything so that they had photographic evidence of it all, then leave.

David would come down with them until they were inside and they knew the coast was clear, then he'd stand guard so that they would know if he somehow showed up. Chloe's plan had all their bases covered, too, because while they were in his lair, Dana and Juliet would be keeping Mr. Jefferson busy at the school. So long as everyone did their part, it was foolproof, or so Chloe had assured her. Just the thought of going there made Max's stomach turn and do somersaults, but she knew that they needed to do it for Rachel. They couldn't just let Jefferson keep getting away with what he was doing.

"You guys have to be careful while you're down there... He could show up at any time, and I'm sure he has cameras down there to make sure that people don't find and he knows who does if someone happens to get there. So get what you need and get out. Take a good car just in case he does see that you're down there, because I wouldn't be surprised if he chased you down and tried to run you off the road to keep his secret a secret. So don't take your truck. It stands out way too much, and he'll know it's you just by looking," Rachel said, looking at them both.

"We'll be careful, Rachel. Everything you just told us will be a huge help," Max said, hiding her worry with a small smile. She could see just by taking a peek at Chloe's face that she was worried, too, but they'd get through it. They could get through anything so long as they were together.

They didn't stay much longer after that, because the doctor came in and shooed them off, saying that Rachel needed her rest and they were preventing it.

Once they were back outside and in Chloe's truck, Max hugged Chloe. "Is it weird that I'm scared?"

"Nope. We're about to do something hella crazy. But we'll be saving lives if we can pull it off, which I think we will. That's what I keep telling myself to keep any jitters away. That what we're doing is gonna help people so they don't have to go through what Rachel is and what Kate went through. Once we get back to my house we'll take David's car there then we'll scope the place out so that we know places to hide if he does come back and we can't immediately get out. Sound good?" Chloe asked, hugging her reassuringly. "I'll protect you."

"And I'll protect you," Max smiled, kissing Chloe's cheek and letting a small smile slip.

* * *

 _ **A/N: So I'm a day late one the day that I told people in review replies, but I got it done! I've just been obsessed with Bravely Default lately, because I never finished it a couple years ago when I got it. So I've been playing that till late in the evening. Then I'm too tired to write. This would've been up yesterday had I not ended up with a headache and feeling incredibly tired.**_

 _ **But anyway, the next chapter should be exciting! :) So stay tuned. And don't forget to leave a review. :))**_


	16. The Dark Room

_**Protector**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of Life is Strange. Please excuse any spelling mistakes/errors. I try my best. I'm always open to ideas and comments, so if you have an idea of where you think the story should do shoot me a PM or write it in a review. It just might find its way into the story.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 16: The Dark Room  
** _ **Thursday November 14, 2013**_

Chloe bounced a little in her seat, watching out the window and asking David how close they were to where Rachel had told them to go. She just wanted all of this over with so that she could spend time with Max and know that she was safe. She also needed the extra time to come up with some plan for Max's uncle when he arrives. It was a little overwhelming, but she knew it was something that she needed to do so that they could both be happy. Max's happiness was her number one priority right now.

She'd loved Max since forever, so protecting her and caring for her had almost become second nature. Especially after all the time that they had spent together over the past month. Max was her rock and her everything, nothing was going to come between the two of them. Not even a psycho after young women.

It hit her like a ton of bricks that there was so many other unknowing girls counting on them. Her heart raced slightly at the thought, sending her thoughts slightly more into overdrive.

"Now girls, this isn't some game or anything. We need to come up with a solid plan on how we're going to do this as quickly as possible without anyone getting hurt," David said, looking at both of them in the rearview mirror as the dense, green forest passed them by outside. "So we'll all go in together and find where this place is. After I give it the alright, you two can snoop around and take pictures or whatever you need to do for ten minutes. After ten minutes, we leave. Got that?"

"We're not here for you to boss around. Max and I were already planning things out like that anyway," Chloe scoffed, crossing her arms and looking out the window at the trees. "We're not stupid little kids. We know the risks, David." Max's hand crept into hers and gave it a slight, reassuring squeeze.

"Do you, Chloe? All I'm doing is trying to watch out for you, because I care about you. You're my step-daughter and whether you like it or not I don't want to see you get hurt or end up in trouble because of all this. I want to get in and out, get this done as quick as possible so that neither of you ends up like Rachel. What's so wrong about that, Chloe? I know that I can't take William's place, and I'm not trying to, but at the very least you could respect me." Chloe caught him trying to make eye contact through the rearview mirror when she looked over. She averted her gaze.

"Whatever. Max and I know what we're doing, David." The sad look on David's face made her feel a little guilty about what she said. She knew that he was just looking out for them and all that, but she didn't like being told what to do, especially when she was already going to do it that way anyway. Her and David had always rubbed each other the wrong way, and she never really understood why, but maybe this was part of it. The thought made her recoil a little, because it meant that her and David were more alike than she'd care to admit.

The semi-awkward silence hung in the air for the rest of the car ride there, and Chloe was the first to leave the car once they'd pulled in. Looking around she could see why Jefferson had chosen this place for his hideout. An old, rotting barn definitely wouldn't be her first choice in where to look for some hidden lair. Surrounded by a forest and up a path nobody ever went meant the whole place was secluded. Paint was chipping off in a lot of places, and the wear and tear of years of neglect was evident. Going up to the front, she tried to get the doors open, but they wouldn't budge.

David and Max weren't far behind her.

"Looks like we'll have to find another way around. You guys go one way and I'll go the other? Meet toward the back if neither of us find a way in," David instructed and started off in one direction, his feet crushing dried leaves making a crunching sound as he went.

"Do you think we'll be able to help Rachel?" Max asked, looking at her with eyes filled with worry and doubt. It was hard seeing her like this, knowing that there really wasn't much that could be done to put her mind at ease except for this to end. That's all the both of them wanted, and it hurt Chloe to think about them not being able to protect her.

"I honestly don't know for sure, Max. But we're sure as heck gonna try. Forget what happened in the past, no one deserves this happening to them," Chloe said, quickly hugging Max. She could feel the slight nervous shaking of Max's body as she held her close. "Now go look. I'll watch around the front."

She positioned herself in front of the door, keeping an eye out for any cars coming up the path they'd come from. She needed the time to get her thoughts in order anyway. Anxiety was starting to creep up on her a little bit, hanging on to her worried thoughts and making them larger than they needed to be. Her biggest fear was that something went horribly wrong and Jefferson got Max, with her and David not being able to do anything. Her heart raced at even the thought of that happening. _Calm down, Chloe... Chill. You won't let anything happen to her, and David is here just in case..._

She had always tried her best to be strong, and she knew that's what Max needed the most right now. Her strength and support. It didn't take her long to decide to talk to Rachel about everything going on in her head. Rachel understood her on a really deep level, and she didn't want to make Max worry more than she already was about everything else going on. Maybe Rachel could even help her come up with a plan to stop Max's uncle without mentioning the situation to her.

"Hey, Che!" Max yelled, running over to her as David came back from his side. "I found a hole that was covered up. Stupidly easy to get into."

Squeezing themselves into the barn, loose straw sat on dirt while dust and other small particles floated through the air, visible from the sunlight streaming through holes she'd missed. Wooden crates and boxes were littered about with pieces of old farm equipment resting neglected in various places. The air inside the barn felt dry as Chloe sucked in a breath after releasing the one she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

After a small bit of exploring, the three found the hidden hatch that lead into the hidden basement. Just thinking about what was probably all down there and seeing it for herself gave Chloe goosebumps, but she hid her uncertainty to be strong for Max.

Chloe put the code she got from Rachel in, opening the door so that her and Max could start their search. The slight thud of their feet was the only sound either girl dared to make as they both started taking pictures of anything suspicious throughout the underground bunker, Chloe using her phone for digital evidence with Max using her camera for physical pictures.

The room was bathed in white, reminding Chloe of a hospital. A creepy hospital as the lighting was much dimmer. Opening a cabinet, she found all these binders with names that she assumed were all of Jefferson's past victims. She sneaked a glace over at Max taking pictures of all the different parts of the room. Even though Max was being careful about the pictures she was taking, she was fidgeting back and forth a little from foot to foot.

Her hands shook slightly as she grabbed the binder marked 'Rachel' from the cabinet, returning her attention in front of her. _C'mon Chloe, you can do this. You_ _ **need**_ _to do this. For both of them._

Her stomach lurched as soon as she opened it, and it took everything in her to not throw up everything she'd eaten prior due to the disgust it filled her with. Looking at the pictures of Rachel looking terrified or nearly unconscious relit the anger inside of Chloe. She flipped through, taking pictures for evidence as she went, trying to keep her emotions in check. This was a side of Rachel she never knew existed and that she never wanted to see again. Her mind was so focused on this one task that she wasn't paying attention to any thing else around her. They had to be quick as they only had a limited amount of time to do what needed to be done.

She quickly put the binder with Rachel's name on it back where she found it and took a picture of the entire collection of them then grabbed another after, doing the same with it as she'd done to Rachel's. She didn't pay any mind to the tapping of her foot she was doing trying to release the adrenaline and nervousness.

As she started to calm herself a little bit, she snuck a peek over at Max. The two had looked over at each other at the exact same moment, which caused a small pinkish hue to tint Max's cheeks. Chloe smiled at her. Just that small moment between the two calmed her down further and with renewed vigor she got back to work.

THUMP!

Chloe looked over at Max, seeing her jump a little as Chloe tensed slightly at the noise. She dropped what she was doing and went over to Max. "Hey, it's okay. I'll bet that was just David coming to tell us that we need to get going. Think you've got enough photos?"

Max nodded, biting her lip nervously. "Let's get outta here, Chloe. This place gives me the creeps..."

Chloe quickly placed everything back where it went, taking Max's hand and lightly squeezing it to reassure the brunette. Max was visibly shaking but flashed a small smile at Chloe before the two heard the door open and footsteps head their way.

Turning the corner, her stomach dropped. It wasn't David coming in but Jefferson, a small smirk laying across his face. "You thought I wouldn't have a way back here quickly, didn't you? Or cameras to make sure nobody got in here and got out with what they'd seen?"

Chloe moved protectively in front of Max and glared at him. "Fuck off. You think we don't have a plan of our own? You're wrong."

"You mean David? I saw him on the way in, knocked him out cold. I have a deal for you, Chloe. That's why I came here, actually. I'm glad I caught up to you before you left or it could have been bad for Rachel."

The smirk never really left his face, even once he had stopped doing it. The condescending air he gave off caused Chloe's anger to bubble up, tearing through her like water through a broken dam. She knew what he wanted, and she was hellbent on not giving Max to him. But what was that about Rachel?

Memories flashed before her eyes. Rachel and her together, laughing. Her and Max making cookies in her kitchen. First kisses. Laughs. Tears. Joy. All of it rushed at her, cycling until Max lightly squeezed her hand.

"I see that caught your attention. As we speak there are drugs coursing through her veins with the sole intent of killing her. There's time to administer an antidote that I've got right here," he paused to briefly hold up a syringe from inside his pants pocket. "So, you can either trade Max for the antidote or you can let Rachel die and probably still lose Max. The choice is yours, Chloe."

 _ **A/N: I'm baaaaaaaack! After forever. But I'm promising you that I'll finish this story. I'm going to be trying to upload a new chapter at least once a week on Tuesdays. If I'm able, I'll do more. I think that the reason I was so blocked (writer's block) was because of poor planning in the beginning. I wasn't sure how things were going to play out with Max and her uncle**_ _ **at all**_ _ **, so as it got closer and closer I started getting blocked for ideas. But I do have an idea for where I'm going with this. :)**_

 _ **For those still here, thank you so much for sticking with me. Anyone new, thank you for clicking and I hope that you enjoy the rest of this story. :)**_


	17. Struggles

_**Protector**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of Life is Strange. Please excuse any spelling mistakes/errors. I try my best. I'm always open to ideas and comments, so if you have an idea of where you think the story should do shoot me a PM or write it in a review. It just might find its way into the story.**_

* * *

 ** _Chapter 17: Struggles_  
** _ **Thursday November 14, 2013**_

At that moment, Max fought hard to suppress the urge to throw up right then and there. She started chewing nervously on her lip. Nothing could have prepared her for Jefferson's proposition. Even though she knew that Chloe and Rachel weren't best friends again, and quite frankly probably never would be as they had in the past, she knew that she would struggle with the decision. Fear and rage battled inside of her, each emotion taking control fleetingly before losing its grip to the other. She side stepped a little more, hiding more fully behind Chloe and trembling slightly. She started picking at skin around her nails subconsciously.

"I'm getting Max out of here, fucker. Whether you like it or not. Rachel, she's in the hospital so even if you did manage to do what you've claimed she's got doctors that are keeping an eye on her," Chloe growled, taking Max's hand, the warmth instantly helping to calm her nerves. For Max, Chloe's confidence could be pretty contagious. It bled through her hand and into Max, making her just a little bit braver.

Peeking out from behind Chloe, she could see a small frown forming on Jefferson's face for a brief moment. It was the blink and you'll miss it kind of brief, but it was there. _He thought she'd pick Rachel over me..._ The thought made the anxious butterflies in her stomach turn into happy ones for a short moment before the anxiety of the situation returned.

All of a sudden Chloe's grip on her hand tightened and then they were both running as quick as they could muster toward the camera equipment to their right. She watched as Chloe grabbed onto a tripod and brandished it in front of her like a weapon. Max kept herself behind Chloe so that she was always between her and Jefferson.

"You'll take Max over my dead body!" Chloe shouted, rushing forward after Max's hand had been released.

Max's heart sped up, adrenaline starting to kick in now that they needed to fight their way out. As her eyes landed on an equipment trolley, a brilliant idea came to her. Keeping an eye on the fight out of the corner of her eye, she crept over to the trolley. Time felt like it was moving at a much slower pace as she edged over to the trolley which raised her anxiety, but she drew strength from Chloe. _If Chloe can fight him off like that, I can fight him off with a trolley from a distance..._

Mere seconds had passed, but they felt like hours as she got over to where she needed to be. It only took a second to pull the thing from it's place against the wall. She lined it up with the two and shouted, "Chloe!" shoving it as hard as she could muster across the room.

Chloe looked for a split second before jumping out of the way and the trolley slammed into Jefferson knocking him into the wall. The jolt distracted him just long enough for Chloe to hit him as hard as she could with the tripod, knocking him to the ground. "Let's go!"

Max didn't need told twice. Both girls tore up the stairs like there was an explosion behind them, closing the hatch to the underground bunker together. "We need something to hold it closed, Che. He won't be down for long."

"I know, I know..." she mumbled, pacing with a hand to her chin and taking in their surroundings. "Can you help me push some of the hay bales onto it? That should be enough weight to hold him."

* * *

Max stared out the window of David's car, processing everything that had happened. Silence hung in the car like a wet blanket, pushing her feelings of drowning in it all further. After leaving barn, Chloe had called the police to give them a heads up of what they'd found. Both girls were at least somewhat hopeful that Jefferson would then be stopped, but you never knew with how much power the Prescott family had. They had everyone in town under their thumb besides the small, feistier family-owned businesses.

It was all too much at one time, and she could tell Chloe was having trouble with it as well. They were headed back to Chloe's house to drop David off, hoping he was coming to by then, and then off to the hospital to check on Rachel. A part of Max, a small part, didn't want to go. She just wanted to curl up on Chloe's bed with her and melt into her arms and the bed. Let all the things she was worried about float away. The bigger, more rational, part told her she needed to be there for Chloe right now. Her white knuckles gave away the worry in her mind. Max could tell well enough when Chloe was trying to hide things and put on her mask of strength so that others could lean on her.

As they pulled into the house, Joyce must have heard them as she hurriedly came out of the house and over to the car as they parked and got out. "Where have the three of you been, and what happened to David?!"

"That's a long story that we don't have time for," Chloe said as she got the back door to see David coming to. "David can tell you once he's more aware, but I promise we're all fine, Mom. Nobody's all that hurt, so you don't need to worry. In short, we went on a mission to save people, and it ended up a success with a douchebag stuck in a hole."

"Chloe, you two need to tell _me_ what happened," David grunted, rubbing his head and swaying a little to stand on his own. "You both are okay?"

A sigh. "Yes, we're fine. Max and I are alright. We're good. Jefferson is locked in his little bunker, we have the pictures, and the police are headed there right now. But we need to get to the hospital to see how Rachel is. Long story. Can we go now?"

Letting Chloe do all the talking didn't hurt Max at all. She was grateful, because right now she didn't have the mental capacity to hold that kind of conversation. Even though they were safe, she still couldn't get over the fact that things could have turned out much differently.

David and Joyce's eyes met for a split second. Max had to wonder if parents had telepathic powers, because that split second look was enough. Joyce hugged Chloe. "Be careful. I don't want see either of you two hurt, you hear me?"

"We promise we'll be careful. We're just going to the hospital, and I'll call you once I get there if that'd make you not worry so much," Chloe said, shutting the rear door to David's car and going over to her truck. Max followed along.

"Chloe," Max said, her voice thick with her anxious thoughts. Now that they were alone and on their way to the hospital, everything hit her like a ton of bricks. Everything she'd been holding back since they got on the car with David, trying to keep the warring inside of herself to a minimum.

"You don't have to tell me, Max." Chloe took Max's hand in hers and squeezed lightly. "I know that everything has probably been too much for you, and I wish I could go back and take it all away. All this stuff piling on top of us one after another. But you know what? We'll get through it, just like we did when we were kids. Together. Okay?"

"Okay. I trust you, Che," Max whispered, resting her head on Chloe's shoulder and closing her eyes, letting the sounds of the car driving on pavement lull her into a sense of serenity slowly but surely.

* * *

That night had been one of the hardest nights of their lives. Even after everything that had happened and everything she'd done, Max had felt terrified for Rachel. The drug that Jefferson had given her had put the brunette into the fight of her life. Chloe had gone through so many different emotions that Max had no way to keep up, but she tried her absolute best to be there for Chloe.

It was now the early morning and neither of them had gotten much sleep with everything going on. Rachel was still in the danger zone but was doing better than over night. The drug had overloaded her system, that had been what the doctors and nurses told them anyway. Her already healing but broken system.

"Max..." Chloe came over and hugged her tightly. "Hey... We should probably grab something to eat. Gotta take care of ourselves." Chloe's soft but rough hand in hers just felt right as they walked toward the cafeteria. After all the worrying and anxiety, the calmness of just holding hands walking down the hallway was a welcome reprieve for Max.

"Che, are you okay? The doctors keep saying she might not make it. Have you prepared yourself for that?" Max asked, lightly squeezing her hand and resting her head on her shoulder. She wanted Chloe to feel cared about and remind her that she cares about her feelings.

Chloe sighed and lightly shook her head. "Not so great, but I'm managing. I just can't wrap my head around that she might end up being gone. Rachel, she's always been a fighter so I just can't see her not fighting..." She'd opened her mouth up to say something else, but closed it again as they got closer.

Two nurses hurriedly passed them as they entered the cafeteria. Neither of them took long to get a bit of food and sit down, picking at it at best. Max could just feel the emotion that hung in the air all around them. Some people were happy, talking and joking with big smiles, while others were sitting dejectedly away from others and just pushing their food around.

Letting her eyes drift back over to their table, Chloe's expression caught Max's eye right away. "Max?" the shaking in Chloe's voice was unmistakeable and as she looked up she could see the tears Chloe was trying to stop from falling. "What if she fights her hardest and just can't...?"

Max wrapped her arms around Chloe, stroking her hair as the punk finally released all the emotions she'd obviously been holding back all night. It dawned on Max that while Chloe had been comforting her and pacing around the hospital, maybe this had been going on inside of her and it immediately made her feel a bit guilty. Chloe was her girlfriend and she should've been there for her just like Chloe had for Max.

The buzzing of Max's phone brought her out of her thoughts and, still holding Chloe, she pulled her phone out and checked it.

 **Rachel's Mom:** Hurry back to the room.


	18. Happy Fourth of July!

Happy 4th of July to all of you who live in the US!

As this is a holiday, I'm not going to be updating today. This passed week has been kinda busy, so I haven't really had time to hammer out a chapter.

I also just wonder if anybody is even still reading this now. So my motivation is kind of low at the moment. I absolutely adore this story and I do want to finish it. If worse comes to worse, I'll release a chapter explaining how it would have ended and move on. But that's worse case scenario. I just don't want to leave it unfinished, but I also don't feel motivated to keep writing if there isn't anyone here to read it, and I have others stories I would like to start. Which I don't want to start anything new until I finish this, because I'm still getting a feeling for this updating schedule and all that stuff.

Thanks for reading this author's note, and have a great holiday! (Or a great day if you're outside the US)


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